


Dreamers & Doers

by almostfer



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV), 创造101 | Produce 101 (China TV)
Genre: F/F, Lots of Cursing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sorry Not Sorry, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a little bit of biting too cause zzt!harem, disney puns, it's pretty crack-ish actually, jealous xukun, lesbian chinese millionaires, mentions of zhengkunjunyi, some unrealistic responses to certain situations, the pd101 ch girls are princessess, they're disney park characters btw, xukun is prince charming, zhengting is duffy the disney bear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-05-29 05:48:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 56,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15066512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almostfer/pseuds/almostfer
Summary: Zhengting was one of the fur characters in the park and he literally died everyday inside the hot and stuffy costume that was his job. The love of his life —and of every little girl and boy that walked into the park— was Prince Charming AKA Cai Xukun. Xukun was a prince in and out of his costume and Zhengting had the best luck in the entire world because every day he had to pass by Cinderella's workplace.Sure, he had to watch Cinderella and Xukun "fall in love" daily, but at least he got to stare at the younger boy without anybody judging him. His eyes were literally in the animal's head's mouth after all.Zhengting would never forget the first day he met Cai Xukun, it was love at first sight —he was sure it ran both ways, even though Xukun still hadn’t actually seen Zhengting’s face out of the bear head.





	1. part of that world

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt inspired by havokftw's twitter au thread https://twitter.com/havoktreeftw/status/977189953309495296
> 
> Also a bit of Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler and lots of Disney park characters videos on youtube.

Apparently, there was a strike going on at Disneyland.

Most of the actors who dressed up as the characters wanted higher pay or something. But the park didn’t really care much about that if the ‘looking for workers’ ads that they put literally everywhere said anything about it. Zhengting was a Disney lover through and through, so he felt that all those ads were a sign that he should try out. Being a prince had always been his dream since he was a kid and if the closest to that would be to be a Disney prince then he would take it.

“I think we should go and ask about it.” Zhengting said to the others, while they were out eating lunch.

“Why would we do that? We’re rich.” Justin mumbled, not looking up from his phone.

Zhengting gave an unimpressed look at the younger boy and shook his head.

“I don’t know— working experience? Extra money?” Zhengting offered.

“I’m pretty sure you get some benefits on like, the food and rides if you work there.” Wenjun said thoughtfully.

“And not everyone is as rich as you.” Quanzhe added with an eye roll.

“I have a friend who works there,” Zeren piped up. “He gets a worker discount and everything, so there must be other free stuff too.”

“I don’t see why not.” Xinchun smiled at Zhengting. “We don’t have anything fun to do this summer anyway.”

“Your idea of doing something fun this summer is working?” Chengcheng made a face.

“At Disneyland.” Xinchun gave him an incredulous look.

“I’d rather not do anything.” Chengcheng said.

“Same.” Justin looked up from his phone briefly before looking back down. Zhengting got so annoyed by that point that he snatched the phone from the younger boy’s hands.

“It’d be a good bonding experience for all of us.” Zhengting agreed, keeping the phone out of Justin’s reach. Justin pouted, trying to make Zhengting give him his phone back but the older boy just ignored him.

“We don’t lose anything by asking.” Wenjun smiled at the pouting boy.

“Fine.” Justin huffed. Chengcheng cried out in faux outrage at the betrayal.

 

 

“This is the worst idea you’ve had since that time you wanted all of us to try out for a K-pop group.” Justin whispered to Zhengting.

All of them had gone to ask the next day and Disney was more desperate than they thought. It seemed that they were barely any people going for auditions—and the majority were teenagers — so here they were three hours later standing in a line for what felt like forever as a group of people stared at them from all angles.

“I’ve never been more uncomfortable in my life than I am right now.” Xinchun said softly, trying not to flinch when one of the staff closed up on him.

“Come on guys, it’ll be over soon.” Zhengting tried to cheer them although he too was feeling awkward as he was being stared at unabashedly.

“Okay!” A short guy in front yelled suddenly making all seven of them jump in surprise. “This part is finished.”

Zhengting watched as his friends sighed in relief.

“Now for the next part!” The man continued, and everyone froze.

“What.” Justin deadpanned.

“There’s more?” Zeren asked, looking seriously distraught.

“Nooo.” Chengcheng yelled dramatically.

“Oh, there is much more.” The main staff dude, Yixing or something, said, looking at them in amusement as Chengcheng and Justin kind of just melted on the ground. “We have to find out if you can be either a face character or a fur character.”

“A what now?” Zhengting asked.

“I don’t want to be a furry!” Justin cried out, clinging to Zhengting.

“Justin, shut up!” Zhengting slapped him in the arm looking embarrassed at the staff in the room. The rest of the guys just cracked up.

“What does that mean?” Quanzhe asked the man softly. And Zhengting thanked the heavens for sending him his angel child.

“Face characters are those who dress up as a human character, like a Princess or a Prince,” Another staff member— Zhangjing, his name tag said— explained. “Fur characters are those where you wear full-body costumes, like Mickey or Goofy.”

“Ohh…” The group said when they got it.

“It was pretty self-explanatory though.” Wenjun whispered under his breath.

“So, what do we have to do to know which we get?” Zeren asked Zhangjing, ignoring the taller boy.

“It all depends on your height and if you fit the costume.” Yixing shrugged. “And your face.” He added as an afterthought.

They measured them all and Yixing and Zhangjing spoke among themselves along with the rest of the staff as the boys sat down eating some of the snacks Zhangjing provided them with.

“This ain’t half bad.” Chengcheng mumbled, mouth full of chewed food.

“Please don’t talk with your mouth full.” Wenjun sighed, opening a bag of chips and taking a handful before passing it to Zeren.

“Stuff yourselves while you can,” Zhengting whispered. “It’ll probably be the last time we’ll be here anyways.”

“Okay!” Chengcheng didn’t think twice before stuffing about three different things in his mouth at once. Quanzhe scooted away from him, nose scrunched in disgust.

“Oh my god, Chengcheng, you are such a pig.”

“I don’t think we left that much of a bad impression.” Wenjun told Zhengting softly while Xinchun patted his back trying to comfort him a little. Zhengting turned to look at Wenjun sharply.

“Justin kept crying that he didn’t want to be a furry every time they made him try a new costume, Quanzhe broke a costume— somehow—, and Chengcheng hasn’t stopped eating since we stepped into this room.” Zhengting listed, face blank. “And don’t think I didn’t notice, Fan Chengcheng! I know you spilled something while trying on one of those costumes.”

Chengcheng froze, cheeks puffed out with food, and smiled sheepishly at Zhengting.

“I didn’t have breakfast?” He offered as an excuse, hiding behind Quanzhe from Zhengting’s glare.

“Okay, you’re right we’re probably gonna get banned from Disney.” Zeren admitted. By that point Chengcheng and Quanzhe were stuffing treats into their pockets and Justin was taking pictures of everything.

Someone cleared their throat from across the room and they all stopped guiltily. Turning they saw that the majority of the staff had left and only Zhangjing and Yixing had stayed— Zhangjing looked at them with raised eyebrows and Yixing looked beyond amused. Zhengting wanted to hit something — or someone, he thought, looking over at his mischievous duo who flinched away as if hearing his thoughts.

“We finally came to an agreement.” Zhangjing started, looking over at them. Unconsciously they stood in a line. “You all qualify enough.”

“Enough?” Xinchun asked.

“Does that mean we all get jobs?!” Zhengting exclaimed excitedly.

“Yes, yes, that’s what it means.” Yixing smiled.

“Why?” Justin asked in disbelief.

“Justin!” Zhengting glared.

“To be honest with you kid.” Zhangjing said suddenly. “We don’t really have much options and we are just accepting anyone who looks like they could do a half decent job. Also, Yixing thinks you guys are fun for some reason.”

Yixing nodded.

“Ah…” Justin nodded in comprehension. “That makes more sense... I think.”

The rest nodded in agreement.

“So, I’m just going to call out your names and the character you’ll be playing,” Zhangjing explained while looking over his clipboard. “After that you will go and pick up your costume and be informed about the specific things you’re supposed to know about them. And you will start next Monday.”

Zhengting was ecstatic. He couldn’t believe that they had actually been accepted, all seven of them. Damn, Disney really was desperate, but who cared!

“Huang Justin!” Zhangjing started. “You’ll be Peter Pan.”

Justin grinned, doing a little dance.

“And in the same area will be Huang Xinchun, as Slightly, one of the lost boys.” Zhangjing spoke to Xinchun, who nodded happily and high-fived Justin.

“Next, Fan Chengcheng,” Zhangjing squinted at the boy. “You’ll be The Prince AKA Prince Florian.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Chengcheng yelled in excitement, pumping his fist in the air. “Who’s that?” He asked frowning, arm still raised.

Zhangjing and Zhengting both rolled their eyes at the same time.

“Snow White’s Prince.” Zhangjing explained.

“Oooh, cool.” Chengcheng shrugged.

“Right,” Zhangjing continued. “Li Quanzhe, you’ll be Gelatoni.”

“That’s the Italian kitten, right?” Quanzhe smiled cutely.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Zhangjing smiled at the younger boy. Zhengting looked at Wenjun in confusion, he had no idea who Gelatoni was.

“You!” Zhangjing said suddenly —why did he always yell things out of the blue anyways? Did he like watching people jump? – pointing at Zeren.

“Me?” Zeren asked, pointing at himself.

“Yeah, Ding Zeren you’ll be Mickey.” Zhangjing said casually, as if that weren’t a big thing.

“What?!” Zeren asked in shock. Zhengting mouth was wide open in similar shock.

“What?” Zhangjing repeated tiredly, probably rethinking about his decision to keep these kids. Not like he could do much with Yixing snickering beside him.

“As in Mickey Mouse? _The_ Mickey.” Zeren clarified.

“What other Mickeys do you think there are at Disney?” Zhangjing rolled his eyes.

“B-but he’s, like, the main character here.” Zeren said all flustered and cute and Zhengting was incredibly happy for him.

“And you qualify as him. Congratulations.” Zhangjing smiled brightly for the first time since they stepped into the room.

“Holy shit, Zeren, you got Mickey!” Justin screamed in his ears as if he hadn’t just heard it, but Zeren just pushed him away, completely dumbfounded.

“I need to sit down for a second.” Zeren sat down on the floor, looking shocked out of his mind.

“I always knew you would get far.” Justin fake cried, blowing his nose with Xinchun’s shirt who pushed him away, looking disgusted.

“I feel like a proud mother!” Zhengting cried, patting Zeren’s head from where he sat on the floor.

“Who would have thought one of us would get to be someone from the main crew.” Wenjun smiled at Zeren, who smiled back.

“Congratulations Zeren!” Quanzhe cheered, clapping his hands enthusiastically.

“I’m so fucking jealous.” Chengcheng admitted clapping along with Quanzhe.

“You’re literally _The_ Prince.” Xinchun pointed out.

“Yeah, but like, Mickey is goals.” Chengcheng said simply. “Mickey is everybody’s favorite.”

Zeren smiled gratefully up at him.

“And Mickey probably ends up getting paid more.” Justin added. Chengcheng nodded before stopping abruptly.

“Wait what?” Chengcheng asked.

“He does?” Zeren turned to ask Zhangjing excitedly.

“We’ll talk about that later!” Zhangjing said annoyed. “Anyways! Bi Wenjun you’re Prince Phillip.”

Wenjun smiled while Chengcheng whooped that he was now part of the Prince squad.

“And Zhu Zhengting,” Zhangjing turned to look at him. “You’re- “

 _This was it._ Zhengting thought, preparing himself for the moment he had been waiting for his entire life, he was _so_ ready to be a Disney prince.

 

 

 

“I can’t believe I’m not a Disney Prince.” Zhengting moaned dejectedly on their walk back home. How did Fan Chengcheng manage to get the role of the very first Disney prince and he got to play a fucking bear?

“It’s not that bad, Zhengting.” Quanzhe said softly.

“Yeah! Fur job is better than no job, am I right?” Justin ‘comforted’ him.

“Besides!” Zeren exclaimed cheerfully. “Duffy the Disney bear is adorable.”

“Just like you.” Xinchun added just as cheerfully, bopping Zhengting on the nose.

“I guess...” Zhengting mumbled.

“And remember what Yixing said,” Wenjun reminded him. “It’s super rare to actually get a face character for one of the princes.”

“You got one.” Zhengting stared at him blankly.

“Uhh…” Wenjun smiled sheepishly.

“And so did I!” Chengcheng jumped out of nowhere, making Zhengting jump.

“Which I still don’t understand.” Zhengting glared at the younger boy, who had begun to munch on one of the cookies Quanzhe had smuggled out.

“Nobody understands how that happened.” Xinchun shook his head in disbelief.

“What can I say.” Chengcheng smirked, cookie crumbles stuck to his chin. “I have killer genes.”

“Nah, all of those went over to your sister.” Justin laughed.

“And I’m pretty sure they gave you a face character because your head is so big it wouldn’t fit in any of the fur characters’ heads.” Quanzhe added innocently, making everyone laugh so hard they stopped walking.

Chengcheng gasped, looking at Quanzhe beyond offended. But that was the comment that finally made Zhengting laugh.

“Mystery solved.” Wenjun laughed.

“The real mystery is how Quanzhe didn’t get a face character.” Zeren said.

“I know! I can’t believe that our Quanzhe has to hide his cute face.” Zhengting exclaimed, his past woes already forgotten.

“It’s okay,” Quanzhe smiled at them. “I think Gelatoni is cute.”

“Not as cute as your face!” Zhengting yelled, squishing his face adoringly.

“I didn’t even know who Gelatoni was.” Zeren admitted.

“Me neither.” Wenjun said easily.

“You should have at least qualified as a lost boy!” Justin butted in, pulling Xinchun along.

“Yeah! Then all three of us would have been together.” Xinchun said sadly.

“It’s fine guys! I really do like Gelatoni and besides, I get to spend time with Zhengting since Duffy and Gelatoni are friends.”

Wenjun and Zeren ‘aww’d’ out loud.

“This is why you’re my favorite!” Zhengting yelled and hugged the boy tightly.

“Kiss-up!” Chengcheng yelled at Quanzhe who only stuck his tongue out at him and Justin.

 

 

 

They spent almost an entire week going to special crash courses where they had to learn how to improvise for when they met visitors, how to sign their characters names correctly, etc.

The face characters — aka Justin, Chengcheng, Xinchun, and Wenjun— had it more tough since they had to actually speak to people and understand their characters enough to make shit up on the spot, they also had to learn how to do their own make-up and fix their own hair and outfits. Things that Zhengting was happy to help them with in all honesty.

The fur characters had it easier in the sense that they weren’t allowed to speak, so it was mostly body-language classes—which were actually really fun— and trying to learn how to walk in the full costume without dying. Something that both Quanzhe and Zeren seemed to get a hang on but that Zhengting still couldn’t do without feeling as if he were living life on the edge.

Another thing that Zhangjing had failed to mention was that each fur character had an attendant of sorts. Someone who would help them go around the park, since sometimes it was hard to look where you were going.

Their job was basically to be a glorified guide slash manager. It didn’t sound half bad though, and Zhengting wondered why he didn’t get that job. But that was before he met their attendants.

“As you guys already know we are kinda short on people,” Zhangjing said. “So sometimes an attendant may be in charge of more than one character.”

Zeren and Quanzhe nodded but Zhengting was too busy being blinded.

“This is Linong.” He pointed to a tall boy with the cutest smile. Zhengting wanted to pinch his cheeks.

“Hi! I’m Chen Linong but you can call me Nongnong.” Nongnong exclaimed cheerfully. “I’m mostly in charge of some of the main crew, so Mickey, Goofy, and sometimes Minnie.”

Zeren grinned before stepping up to the taller boy.

“I'm Zeren.” He offered. “I’m going to be Mickey.”

“Nice to meet you!” Nongnong shook Zeren’s hand with a lot of enthusiasm.

“Zhengting and Quanzhe,” Zhangjing called them. “This is Yanchen.”

He pointed to the other boy in the room. Yanchen grinned brightly, just as brightly as Nongnong and Zhengting was starting to see a pattern now.

"Hello." Yanchen waved. Quanzhe and Zhengting waved back, smiling politely.

“Is one of the requirements to be an attendant to be the sun incarnate?” Zhengting whispered, watching both Yanchen and Nongnong blind everyone within a ten-meter radius with a smile.

“Seems so.” Zeren shrugged.

“My god their smiles are bright.” Quanzhe mumbled.

“I suddenly have this urge to go brush my teeth.” Zeren said.

“Same.” Zhengting sighed.

So, you had to have a Colgate smile to be an attendant. Noted.

 

 

 

“So, Yanchen, tell me.” Zhengting asked the handsome boy. “How long have you worked here?”

Yanchen hummed, thinking it over for a brief second. “Like a week.”

“A week?” Quanzhe asked shocked.

“Yeah, I saw the ad and thought why not?” Yanchen shrugged, throwing another blinding smile their way. “Also, a lot of my friends already work here, and they recommended me.”

“Oh,” Zhengting said. “Cool.”

He shared a look with Quanzhe.

Why the hell would Zhangjing put someone who was almost as new as they were in charge of them, that made no sense.

Yanchen just smiled, not realizing their struggle.

“How did you manage to be an attendant instead of a character?” Zhengting wondered curiously.

“I was meant to be a prince actually, but at the last minute I was appointed to this— something about having a good attitude.” Yanchen shrugged before walking ahead of them.

“It was the smile.” Quanzhe stated.

“It was most definitely the smile." Zhengting agreed.

They hurried to catch up with Yanchen as he explained the basics.

“The main break room is behind the castle and fur character get to take a break every few hours, remember to not spend more than forty minutes outside cause your costumes can get too hot.”

Zhengting nodded. Maybe Yanchen really did know what he was doing.

“As for rules… just don't stray too far. Gelatoni and Duffy are friends so it's fine to stay together— since both of you are new it's a better way for you to not get lost.”

“Got it.” Quanzhe nodded.

“You might be two huge animal characters but it's easy to lose sight of each other in this big park with so much people. Once opening time arrives it gets super crowded and it's hard to pay attention.”

“Stay together and pay attention, got it.”

“And time your breaks.” Yanchen reminded them.

“Gotcha boss.” Zhengting beamed.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.” Yanchen cheered.

They grinned excitedly.

“Now,” Yanchen stopped and turned to them. “It’s time for your grand debut.”

Zhengting and Quanzhe looked at each other nervously before stepping into the dressing room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more of an introduction to all the major characters in the story so I'm sorry if it seems kind of boring. o(╥﹏╥)o  
> This is my first story and I have no beta or anything so if I have any errors feel free to correct me.  
> ALSO lets act as if in this au the guys and girls actually do look like the Disney characters or something just for storytelling's sake.


	2. so this is love

 

On his first day he ended up falling every few steps, as expected, because his stupid costume had the biggest fucking feet and why did animated characters have to have such huge feet? As if they were realistic in any way.

Zhengting had been enjoying the way that kids got excited when they saw Duffy, even better when they wanted pictures. But once he had to move it all went down the drain.

He didn't know if it was because he strayed too far from Quanzhe and Yanchen or if he didn’t move at all and the other two did, but he somehow managed to lose both of them. He tried to catch sight of an oversized cat and Yanchen's blinding smile through the holes of Duffy’s head, but he didn’t see anybody.

Zhengting started to panic a little and started moving towards where he thought was the last place he saw Quanzhe. Which he failed to do since he had zero feet coordination while in the stupid bear suit. As he went down Zhengting wondered what else could go wrong.

He was seriously considering just lying on the floor and waiting for Yanchen to come find him when  _he_  appeared.

In all his gorgeous princely glory— Zhengting almost swooned once Prince Charming helped him up. Zhengting swore he was fucking glowing, but that might have been just the fact that he was blocking the sun from Zhengting’s place on the floor, which made him look so bright. Or maybe it was  _love_  — which Zhengting thought it was more likely to be honest.

"First day, huh?" The prince smiled, stupidly handsome and unfairly hot.

Zhengting died a little inside and even though the bear head seemed thick — it wasn’t good enough to cover the weird dying animal noise he made.

The other boy raised his eyebrows before smiling confusedly.

"I'm Cai Xukun." He introduced himself, shaking Zhengting's huge-ass bear paw. "But most people around here know me as Prince Charming."

And charming he was.

"I can see why." Zhengting thought out loud, utterly smitten already. Only snapping out of his daze when Xukun snorted at his comment.

Thank god for the bear head covering his dumb flushed face.

"I mean, Hi! I'm Duffy. I mean Zhengting! Zhu Zhengting, I'm Zhu Zhengting. That's… me." He finished lamely, wanting to throw himself to the ground again and play dead.

"Nice to meet you." Xukun smiled. He didn’t seem to mind Zhengting’s blabbering— he must be used to that reaction, Zhengting realized.

"Likewise." Zhengting said weakly. Justin was never gonna let him live this down if he found out.  _When_  he found out. “I shouldn’t be talking inside the bear though.”

“Oh, right, fur character laws.” Xukun smiled conspiratorially. “It’s okay when it’s me though, I’ll make sure no kid hears you.”

This time he really did swoon.

For the rest of the hour, Zhengting kept bumping into random objects and small children, he may have ended up tripping a few more times and he was sure that if he kept it up he would not manage to keep the job for more than a day. But every time he tripped or fell there was always someone to help him up, that steered him away from all the innocent children and angry adults, and that quite frankly, made his day. And that someone was not Yanchen — who had still not appeared and probably hadn’t even noticed that Zhengting was gone.

Prince Charming was charming indeed. Throughout the rest of the day, Cai Xukun would appear out of the blue and he continued helping Zhengting up while still managing to look beautiful at the same time — and if sometimes Zhengting tripped just for the shits so Xukun could hold him up, then nobody had to know that it wasn’t because he couldn’t see anything through Duffy’s huge head.

Maybe being a fur character wouldn’t be so bad after all.

 

 

 

Eventually, Yanchen found him. Zhengting couldn't even get mad since Yanchen looked so worried — he just let himself be lead away to another part of the park. Zhengting also couldn't help but turn back to look at Prince Charming one last time and was rewarded with a small smile and a wave.

Zhengting sighed longingly, waving back shyly.

“It’s time for your break.” Yanchen said softly. “Quanzhe is already in the break room.”

Zhengting nodded. It was nice of Yanchen to stay looking for him —although it was his job after all.

The break room was a huge room full of couches, TVs and food. There were like three huge screens with different Disney movies playing scattered around the room and in one of the couches he found Quanzhe, still dressed as Gelatoni but with his head off.

“Zhengting!” The younger boy jumped up once he saw him. “Where were you?”

“Around the Gardens of Imagination.” Yanchen answered for him. Because Zhengting really didn't even know where he was.

“How did you get over there?” Quanzhe asked looking confused.

“I have now idea.” Zhengting sighed before finally taking off the dumb bear head. He also pulled down the costume half way down since he was boiling inside it. “It’s so hot in there.” He whined.

“That’s why you're not supposed to stay outside for so long.” Yanchen said, pointedly looking at Zhengting.

Zhengting whined at him. Yanchen shook his head with a grin and passed Zhengting a water bottle.

“Anyways,” Quanzhe smiled. “This is Zhenghao.”

“Hi.” The boy said shyly. And Zhengting knew in that moment that the small boy was his new son.

“Hi!” Zhengting grinned. Before he could say anything else he felt a presence behind him.

 “Well, hello there.” Someone called out, Zhengting turned to find a very handsome boy in front of him. “I must be a Beast, because you’re definitely a Beauty.”

Zhengting didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry so he just stared at the boy.

“This is Yanjun.” Yanchen rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “He is Prince Eric.”

“Nice to meet you.” Zhengting said.

“Pleasures all mine.” Yanjun smiled —and  _oh_ , dimples— and Zhengting smiled back.

“So, you’re one of the new guys running around the park.” Yanjun sat down and spread himself across the couch. Zhenghao groaned but moved to give him more space.

“Yeah. I’m Zhengting and this is Quanzhe.” He pointed to the little blond who smiled.

“How many of you are there again?” Yanjun asked looking at him appreciatively. Zhengting didn’t know what he was seeing because Zhengting was still half inside his bear suit.

“Seven.” He answered warily.

“Is everyone as pretty as you?” Yanjun grinned and Yanchen groaned in embarrassment.

“Yanjun why?”

“Yanjun don’t harass the new guy!” Another boy sitting in a couch yelled from across the room. He was dressed as a pirate.

“I’m not!” Yanjun squawked indignantly, sitting up quickly — all the coolness from before disappearing in an instant.

“Just ignore him Zhengting.” Yanchen said. “He likes to flirt with everyone just to get a reaction.”

Zhengting laughed.

“It’s fine.”

“Oh really?” Yanjun grinned.

“That was not an invitation for more flirting.” Pirate boy arrived and hit Yanjun in the back. “Also, Zhangjing was looking for you.” He informed the prince. Yanjun groaned. “What does he want now?”

“Beats me.”

“Adieu, Fairy-boy,” Yanjun waved an arm dramatically towards Zhengting’s general direction before leaving. Zhengting pointed at himself with a confused look on his face, mouthing ‘fairy?’ to Zhenghao who just shrugged.

“What was _that_?” Quanzhe asked blankly.

“Yanjun.” Yanchen shrugged. They all watched as a blob of green skipped into the room. Zhengting smiled as Justin in his full Peter Pan outfit arrived. He looked adorable.

“Sup.” He nodded at the group.

“Sup, I’m Ziyi,” Pirate boy finally introduced himself. “And that’s Xiao Gui.”

He pointed to a smaller boy, also dressed as a pirate.

“Xiao Gui? As in little ghost? Is that like you rapper name or something?” Justin asked.

“How did you know?” Xiao Gui asked, looking impressed.

“Oh my god, we get to have rapper names?” Justin gasped excitedly. “Mine’s Lil Justin!”

“Justin that is literally your name.” Zhengting said dryly.

“But it’s cooler if I say it’s my rapper name.” Justin justified.

“No, it’s really not.” Quanzhe told him.

“Do you also have a rapper name?” Justin turned to Ziyi.

“B O O G I E.” Ziyi said along with a complicated hand sign.

“Boogie?” Justin asked with furrowed eyebrows. Quanzhe was trying to do the hand sign in the back.

Justin pondered about it. “Maybe I shouldn't get a rapper name after all.” He whispered to Zhengting who tried not to snort. Ziyi just smiled calmly.

 

 

 

“Okay,” Zeren said loudly when everyone met up at the end of the day. “How did your first day go?”

“I’m dead.” Chengcheng answered honestly.

“It was so hard.” Xinchun cried.

“It wasn't that bad.” Wenjun smiled.

“I played hide and seek with a bunch of kids today.” Justin offered, grinning. “It was great.”

“I think I’m in love.” Zhengting admitted abruptly.

Everyone stopped and turned to look at Zhengting strangely. Chengcheng and Wenjun looked at each other with an amused smile.

“What?” Zhengting asked once he realized the looks the other sent his way.

“You saw a hot guy, didn't you?" Zeren smiled knowingly. “You always say that you’re in love when you meet a hot guy.”

“I do not.” Zhengting whined. Even though it may be true he didn’t appreciate being called out on it.

“I bet it was one of the princes." Justin added, even more knowingly.

Zhengting gasped. "How did you know?"

Justin just smirked.

"I know you the best." He grinned cheekily, ignoring the noises of disagreement everyone else made.

"I know him better!" Quanzhe yelled.

Justin crossed his arms. "Fine, I know because I went with Chengcheng into the princes' lair and it was full of hot guys.” Justin said smugly. “Oh, and Chengcheng and Wenjun were there too." He added.

"Hey!" Both Wenjun and Chengcheng cried offended.

"Well it's different this time,” Zhengting exclaimed. Everyone gave him ‘oh really’ looks that left him pouting. “This time he’s a  _prince_." Zhengting announced proudly stressing the last word before sighing.

Justin rolled his eyes. “As if that makes a huge difference.” 

"Which one?" Chengcheng asked. Surprisingly, he looked like he was genuinely curious and not just teasing Zhengting.

“Prince Charming." Zhengting sighed again. Justin rolled his eyes again and Quanzhe laughed.

"Cinderella's?" Chengcheng wondered.

"Yeah, his name is-"

"Cai Xukun." Wenjun smiled.

"Yeah! You met him?" Zhengting inquired excitedly.

"We crossed paths once or twice. He seemed very friendly."

"Yeah, friendly." Chencheng smiled strangely. He looked as if he knew something nobody else did but Zhengting knew that even if he asked Chengcheng he wasn't gonna spill. He would just ask Justin to get it out of him later.

"Was this when you got lost?" Quanzhe asked.

Everyone sniggered.

"You managed to get lost Zhengting?" Wenjun asked amused.

"Wow, how shocking." Chengcheng laughed.

"It's my first day!" Zhengting yelled defensively. "You try to find yourself around with a bear head over your head."

"Quanzhe did just fine." Xinchun pointed out. "So, did Zeren."

"Xinchun, you’re supposed to be on my side!" Zhengting cried, punching the boy's arm.

"Ouch, hey." Xinchun moved away.

“You're so violent, Fairy.” A voice spoke from behind Zhengting. Yanjun smiled at him from besides Zhangjing.

“And you are?” Justin asked, eyeing the older boy warily.

“Lin Yanjun.” The boy grinned. Zhengting smiled because he could see the way the younger boy tried to puff up to seem bigger.

“Why are you still here?” Zhangjing asked not meanly. “I would expect all of you to have left right away after your first day. It is kind of tiring.”

“We got caught up talking.” Zeren answered sheepishly.

“We were just leaving though.” Zhengting grinned before pulling Justin away.

“Come on, you big baby, it’s almost past your bedtime.” Zeren whispered loudly.

“I don't have a bedtime!” Justin yelled. “I don’t have a bedtime.” He reassured Zhangjing and Yanjun, who just laughed.

“Whatever you say, kid.”

Bidding their ‘good nights’ and ‘see you laters’ they went to the parking lot where they all got inside Wenjun’s car.

“I don’t like that Yanjun guy.” Justin huffed, sitting down at the back. Zhengting chuckled as he sat down beside him and ruffled Justin’s hair.

“He’s not that bad.” He soothed the younger boy.

“He seems like a player.” Justin grumbled.

“Yeah, what did he call you? Fairy? What’s up with that?” Chengcheng added, rolling his eyes.

“I have no idea actually.” Zhengting said thoughtfully.

Wenjun laughed, looking at them through the rearview mirror.

“They always roast Zhengting the most but they’re also the most protective ones.” He whispered to Zeren, who called shotgun.

“That’s their way of showing their love.” Zeren shrugged.

“Weirdos.” Quanzhe said to Xinchun who just nodded as he looked at them.

“Now, now, play nice.” Zhengting patted Justin and Chengcheng. “It’s just our first day, don’t judge so easily.”

“Hopefully day two goes better.” Xinchun said as Wenjun started the car and pulled away.

Behind them Disneyland’s lights twinkled brightly.


	3. you’ll love me at once

There were lots of things that fur characters had to do to entertain the visitors. And all of it without speaking while inside of an incredibly hot costume.

Compared to other Disney mascots, Duffy was not as popular.

Zeren had it hard since Mickey was the big deal, even Quanzhe got more attention cause Gelatoni was the cutest thing in the world, but Duffy had to work for the cheers.

It came to the point where Zhengting got really defensive about Duffy’s popularity— or lack of. He dressed Duffy as cute as he could every day in his sailor outfit, and tried to catch all the kid’s attention with the only thing he was completely confident in.

Dancing.

And it actually worked.

People would stand around him watching the big bear dance to whichever song was Yanchen’s favorite that day and it was hilarious.

So today like many other days, was dance day.

Yanchen turned the speakers on and Zhengting could see kids looking over already, so he started freestyling to the music. Dancing gracefully while wearing a huge ass costume was not as easy as he thought, and he may have ended up looking rather dumb, but the kids were cheering in delight and at the end of the day that's all that mattered —and what gave him his paycheck.

He actually enjoyed doing it though. It was kinda hard since Duffy’s head was big and heavy, so he couldn’t do flips or cooler moves, but he still enjoyed it a lot. He was so into it, in fact, that he didn't notice until the end of the song that Xukun had been watching him dance like a fool.

Zhengting was sweating buckets inside the costume, more than usual, but he felt a cold dread run through his body the second he saw the prince. Xukun waved at him, obviously amused by his little dance, and Zhengting just waved back before running away to some other part of the park, trying the hide from the other boy as his daily quota of Xukun-related embarrassment was full and it wasn’t even noon yet.

In his haste he didn't notice the startled yell Yanchen gave as he tried to gather the boombox quickly nor the disappointment in Xukun’s eyes as he watched Zhengting run away from him again. Zhengting eventually ended around the water rides of the park— and along with water came the Little Mermaid cast.

“You have to stop running away without telling me,” Yanchen said between huffs as he caught up with Zhengting. “This is why you always get lost and I have to spend hours looking for you.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Zhengting whispered as he waved him off. “I never get lost that long.”

He could hear the splashes of the water rides and the screams of the visitors. Further ahead he could see the bright firetruck red hair of Princess Ariel, so Zhengting looked around warily — if Ariel was near than that meant…

“Hey, there.”

Zhengting turned — already expecting it — and could see Yanjun smirking at him in all his Prince Eric glory. _Here it comes_ , Zhengting thought, wincing already.

“Is your name Ariel? Cause we mermaid for each other.”

Zhengting couldn’t help but groan at the pun, Yanchen echoed his sentiment with his own groan. Why did Yanjun have to have all that face and all those jokes at the same time.

Yanjun grinned, looking awfully proud. Zhengting wasn’t sure when it began, and when it became their thing, but now every time he bumped into Yanjun — which was constantly— he always had a Disney pun slash pick-up line ready for Zhengting. It was equal parts funny and cringy.

“Please, don’t flirt with the bear in front of the children.” Zhengting laughed softly. He couldn’t help it, Yanjun was cute in a dorky way.

“So, when they’re not around it’s all free game?” Yanjun smirked, stepping closer.

“I didn’t say that.” Zhengting warned, voice extra quiet since he could see children running around.

“You didn’t say no.” Yanjun moved his eyebrows up and down.

“Don’t you have a princess to kiss.” Zhengting evaded the other guys flirting attempts-

“I’d rather kiss you.”

-But Yanjun was not so easily distracted.

“I don’t think you can do that with this head in the way.” Zhengting grinned inside his suit. Flirting was fun when you could hide behind a bear mask.

Yanjun looked straight into Duffy’s mouth AKA Zhengting’s eyes— even though he couldn’t really see Zhengting, it felt as if he were seeing right into his eyes. “Watch me.”

“Ooh, you're good.”

“I haven’t even started, sweetheart.”

“Prince Eric!” A little voice screamed, and both turned to look at a tiny Princess Ariel running to pounce on Yanjun.

It was amazing to watch Yanjun seamlessly get into character. The sweet and smooth Eric voice that came on and the way that his dimples popped into view, a vast difference to the charming flirt he had been minutes before.

“Ariel! There you are!” Yanjun said happily, lifting the little girl who couldn’t have ben more than three.

The sight they made was adorable, the girl started babbling adorably about how much she loved him and how she had been looking for him all day, to which Yanjun responded that so had he. All in all, it was the cutest thing Zhengting had seen all day.

“Why is he Prince Eric when he could have been a perfect Flynn Rider?”

Zhengting jumped when Justin suddenly appeared next to him, full-on Peter Pan ensemble and an army of little kids looking at him from afar, waiting for Peter patiently.

“It was because of his dimples, wasn’t it?” Chengcheng answered for him, making Zhengting jump _again_ because of the boy that appeared on his _other_ side. Chengcheng looked good in his prince outfit, such a shame he ruined it by stuffing his face with a huge pretzel.

“Noo…?” Yanchen smiled sheepishly. “It was also because he didn’t want to have a beard.”

Yanjun kissed the little Ariel’s hand and she did a small curtsy before running back to her parents, Yanjun smiled at her and waved as they walked up to the ‘real’ Ariel. When he turned to them, he made a face, his Prince Eric persona slipping off just as easily as it had come on.

“That is not a beard, it’s a fucking _goatee_.” Yanjun shuddered. he only whispered the curse word before switching back to a normal voice again. Zhengting found it hilarious how most face characters had to deal with trying not to curse daily. Perils of a face-to-face job. Ten points for fur characters.

 

 

 

Zhengting felt bad for all for the times he was a brat in Disney when he was younger and sent all those workers he annoyed a million apologies in his head. The Disney characters did not deserve any of the shit they went through.

His day had gone pretty swell after the embarrassing moment during the morning, taking pictures with random kids who actually looked excited to see him, signing some stuff —though Duffy wasn’t especially popular with the signatures— and waving at people.

When evil incarnate appeared all of a sudden.

It was a small girl, tiny, probably six, wearing the cutest dress and little pigtails.

_Pure evil._

Zhengting noticed that she was alone and had worried that she had gotten lost —like the good person he was. He couldn’t even ask her because he wasn’t supposed to speak so he wanted to take her to Yanchen when the little shit squinted her eyes at him and kicked him in the kneecap.

Fucking hell, they were not paying him enough for this.

The little kid screamed bloody murder and punched him in the gut, making Zhengting lose his balance and fall on the floor—because apparently that was a thing now. Him and the floor were best friends.

Everybody around him ignored them and Yanchen was nowhere in sight, as per usual. At least his costume softened the blow a little, but the little kid could pack a punch— the little girl gave a high-pitched war cry before jumping on him. Zhengting was so close to snapping at that brat when his savior and guardian angel appeared in the form of a prince.

Thank god for Xukun. Xukun should be his attendant. Screw Yanchen and his beautiful sunshine smile.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Prince Charming chided... Charmingly. Like everything else about Xukun. "We don't punch our friends."

The little girl looked at him with hearts in her eyes as Xukun helped Zhengting up, and as much as Zhengting hated to relate to the devil's spawn— he could totally relate. Because _same_.

"Yes, Prince." The brat said shyly. And of course, now she was shy and sweet. After she tried to beat the shit out of Zhengting with her tiny fists. "I'm sorry."

"I am not the one you should be apologizing to." Xukun smiled softly, looking towards Zhengting.

The girl turned too, and that little shit glared at him as if it were his fault she was Satan’s daughter.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Bear." That brat didn’t even know Duffy’s name! As if she weren’t bad enough.

That was the fakest apology Zhengting had ever heard, and he listened to Justin apologize daily after all his shit. He would never call Justin evil ever again now that he had seen and felt what true evil was.

By the looks of it even Xukun noticed the insincerity but it was more than you would normally get, so he sucked it up and waved his hands and showed the girl two thumbs up to show that he was okay and accepted her apology.

He hated being a mute character.

But at least this way he wouldn’t get sued.

The girl finally ran off because her parents finally decided to be good parents and look for her, they also had to have the best timing in the world and appear right _after_ their spawn abused him.

"Kids can be rough sometimes, huh?" Xukun smiled at him. "You good?"

Zhengting was in love.

"Yeah, it feels as if I’ve been run over by a tiny steamroller but otherwise I’m fine." He said offhandedly while brushing his costume, he jumped a little in surprise when Xukun actually laughed. He wasn't joking. Did it sound sarcastic or something? _I could’ve died, Xukun._ Zhengting thought blankly.

"That’s good to know,” Xukun chuckled some more, “But if you ever need help, you don’t have to worry at all since I'll always be here to save you." Xukun grinned brightly and Zhengting felt his soul leave his body.

"I thought princes were supposed to save princesses." Zhengting whispered, completely blown away by how effortlessly the younger boy said things like that. No wonder Zhengting hadn’t gotten a prince role. He would never be half as smooth as any of the princes — okay, that was a lie, he was definitely smoother than Chengcheng.

"I am."

_Huh?_

“What?” Zhengting squeaked.

Sometimes, Zhengting wondered what Xukun was thinking whenever he talked to Zhengting, how could he say things like that and smile at him when he was looking at a bear’s _head_. And not just any bear, but Duffy the Disney Bear. It just seemed weird.

“Are you a furry?” Zhengting asked suspiciously. He watched amused as Xukun almost choked. He hadn’t meant to actually say it out loud. But whenever he was with Xukun he always managed to say the stupidest things with no filter.

“What? No!” Xukun spluttered, face bright red. Zhengting actually had the audacity to laugh in his face. But before he could defend himself further he was called.

"Charming!" Meiqi sing-songed from across the road, teeth clenched in a smile as she greeted the kids around her, eyes daggers when she looked at her prince who was flirting with Duffy —because of course he was. "Come here, my love!"

Xukun groaned before turning with a smile. “Coming, honey!” He yelled back.

"Duty calls, Charming." Zhengting laughed nervously, waving at the younger boy as he grumbled his way to his princess. Xukun’s ears were still bright red and Zhengting couldn’t help but giggle some more now that the boy had left.

Thank god for Cinderella. That was going in a direction Zhengting did not know how to deal with, so he was grateful for the interruption.

 

 

 

It was parade time and Zhengting was on one of the only fur characters that got to ride one of the carts—thankfully, cause he sure as hell wasn’t gonna go walking around the streets under this heat. Although it was also rather strange, since most fur characters had to walk around to interact with the public, he still wondered how he managed to get the spot… But that didn’t matter because he was comfortable as hell on the cart and his only job was to try not to laugh out loud at Bufan, as he stomped around in Goofy’s huge shoes in front of their cart.

However, he was not as pleased to have first row seats on the lovey-dovey show he had to watch as a result of going on the carts. He _would_ have the shittiest luck out of everyone and managed to get on one of the ‘couple carts’.  Full of Disney couples acting like couples for the public. And obviously he had to have the clearest view of Cinderella and Prince Charming. As if he didn’t see enough of that daily.

Zhengting watched as Xukun leaned his forehead against Meiqi's and they smiled lovingly at each other. The perfect Cinderella and Prince Charming— Zhengting wanted to throw himself off the cart.

He had never been more glad of having the stupid mask covering his expression, which he was sure was more than telling about what watching the couple act in love made him feel.

At least he wasn't the only one who was suffering, he thought, as he saw how Princess Aurora glanced longingly at Cinderella. Wenjun tried to act all princely and what not and the girl went along, swaying cutely for a while, but Zhengting saw the way she kept sneaking looks over at Cinderella’s direction every once in a while.

He hoped he was right and the girl was watching Cinderella because he didn’t want to think about having another princess as competition for his prince.

Why was the bear life so hard?

 

 

 

Zhengting honestly felt like shit. The day had been tough, after the hell spawn’s brutality, he had gone through the parade of hell, then he had fallen like five times and there was no Xukun to lift him up this time, so he had to spend a fair amount of time flopping on the ground and trying to turn like a turtle on its back until Yanchen found him.

It was definitely top five in his worst days of this job — and considering he was only two weeks into said job, that was saying a lot. He arrived at the break room exactly to say all that and vent at whichever poor soul would be sharing his break time. But once he saw Zeren’s and Justin’s huge smiles he didn’t have the heart to start.

“An old lady came up to me today and cried when she met me,” Zeren said the instant Zhengting came close enough. “She told me that she thought that she would never get to meet Mickey before she died.” Zeren cried out.

Zhengting sat down and pulled his bear head off. He motioned to Justin to unzip the zipper on his back, and finally Zhengting was free of the stifling upper half of Duffy.

“I’m full of emotions! — and covered in sweat and tears—but I've never felt so fulfilled. Moments like these make this hell-job worthwhile.” Zeren continued, sighing in content. And true to his words, his hair was slicked against his sweaty forehead, but he had the biggest smile Zhengting had seen in days, so he couldn’t help but smile back just as big.

“And I love being Peter Pan!” Justin jumped up and down in his seat, pulling on Zhengting’s arm. “It was like I was born for this role, and now I never want to grow up.”

“I never want you to grow up either.” Zhengting agreed readily.

“Don’t worry mom, I’ll always be your youngest child.” Justin grinned boyishly.

“You’re so cute, I love you.” Zhengting gushed. Moments like these made him realize how important his friends were to him. The fact that they could easily lift his mood by just being happy made Zhengting cherish them even more.

Xinchun arrived with a tray full of food and Wenjun arrived moments later. Quanzhe had stayed out with Yanchen and Chengcheng was doing prince stuff that Zhengting couldn’t relate to, so it was just them four this time around.

“Remember when he was the one who hated this idea the most? Look at him now.” Xinchun laughed as he sat down next it Zhengting, nudging him cheerfully.

“He really is enjoying this.” Zhengting agreed warmly, looking at the boy in question explain the games he played with the kids throughout the day to Zeren.

“I think Justin needed to be reminded why it’s so great to still be young and be a kid.” Wenjun nodded as he broke a brownie in half and passed the other half to Zhengting. Zhengting smiled warmly as he ate it, Wenjun always noticed when he felt off.

“He wanted to grow so quickly before and now he’s finally embraced his youth.” Zhengting added, acting as if he were tearing up. Wenjun laughed, brushing off brownie crumbs from Zhengting’s face.

“Why are you two talking as if you were seventy? You’re not even that much older than him!” Xinchun laughed, throwing a bag of chips at Zhengting’s head. Zhengting just caught them, opened them and ate one with a hum.

“We’re old enough to know.” He said solemnly.

“We’re wise.” Wenjun nodded seriously. But then he looked at Zhengting and both of them cracked up.

 

 

 

After that break, Zhengting wanted to go around to the undiscovered parts of the park, so he followed Wenjun to his station. Zhengting felt like he was always around Xukun— looking for the boy and then hiding from him —that he never saw his friends as much. Of course, Quanzhe was a constant presence since he was Gelatoni, and Justin ran around everywhere as Peter Pan, so he found him throughout the day— but that was only because Justin was the one who sought Zhengting out not because Zhengting was being a good friend slash mother. He only saw the others during break times, Zeren especially was hard to see because Mickey was super busy all the time.

None of the guys ever said anything but Zhengting felt bad for putting them in the backseat since he met Xukun. The job had been for them to have fun together, not for Zhengting to get a boyfriend — though he wouldn’t mind if he could have both.

Maybe Zhengting still had a slight grudge over not having gotten a prince role that he kinda avoided seeing Wenjun or Chengcheng, but he tried not to think that because that just made him an asshole, so now that the guilt was eating him alive he made the resolution to go and watch the other princes more often.

And man was he missing some juicy stuff.

Wenjun seemed shy over Zhengting watching him play as a prince but Zhengting thought it was adorable. Wenjun was a very soft-spoken Prince Phillip, and the little girls loved him, the older girls loved him, and even the moms went crazy over how gentlemanly Wenjun was. And Zhengting couldn’t help but feel proud over the younger boy’s popularity.

Through Prince Phillip he got to meet Sleeping Beauty.

Aurora was super pretty up close, even though Duffy’s thick mask covered most of Zhengting’s vision he still knew that she was gorgeous. And she was also super in character. Zhengting loved all the classic Disney princesses and she was one of the most accurate face characters he had seen in action— and he was totally not throwing shade at Cinderella cause the girl was good but Xukun as Prince Charming kind of overshadowed her… not that he was being biased or anything, it was just his honest opinion as a self-proclaimed Disney expert.

Aurora also made his little gay heart burst with feelings at one point during the day when they bumped into a girl on the way back to the break room —being a fur character had its perks because Zhengting had a bajillion breaks a day and they still paid him, hah! Take that Chengcheng— anyway, the girl was in her early teens and she was obviously in that awkward stage in life where you felt… well, awkward.

She also had a little brother who was very excited to meet Duffy, much to Zhengting’s surprise and joy. Wenjun just stepped back and let them have their moment before the family decided to move on because the little boy saw Donald in the distance and he was very excited to meet him, which was around the time when Zhengting realized that the kid was just as excited to meet every fur character in the park. It was so cute that he couldn’t even get offended because that was the point of fur characters after all.

When Zhengting and Wenjun got close to where Princess Aurora was, they noticed that she was speaking to the girl and Zhengting could hear the last traces of their conversation.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying the day!” Aurora beamed brightly. Zhengting noticed the way the girl flushed at having that smile directed at her. Which, same.

“Yeah…” The girls smiled back nervously.

“Has any prince caught your eye yet?” Princess Aurora asked conspiratorially behind one hand, a little teasing glint in her eyes. The younger girl seemed to turn even more red if possible.

“I’m more…” She coughed embarrassedly. “I’m more into princesses.”

Zhengting was grinning like an idiot inside his mask and when turned to look at Wenjun he saw that he was also grinning like a fool. Princess Aurora looked surprised only for a brief second before sighing understandably.

“Want to know a secret?” She whispered softly to the girl. “So am I.”

The girl smiled big for the first time since they had met her and Zhengting’s heart went out to her. Her parents than yelled at her to hurry since they were moving on, and so she did, but not before turning back and hugging Aurora tightly, whispering a small but genuine ‘thank you’ and then running off.

Zhengting instantly liked Princess Aurora and he knew that they would get along perfectly. Wenjun smiled at her, held his arm out for her to link hers through, before they continued on their way to the break room.

Zhengting later found out that Princess Aurora's real name was Xuanyi and she was actually pretty chill. He already knew she was nice, but she was also super friendly and talked to him about everything he needed to know about the park and its workers over milkshakes and sandwiches during his last break.

And she was also super gay for Cinderella.

Zhengting already suspected it—the talk with the teen aside, there had already been many moments that proved it— but now that Xuanyi confirmed it he could finally feel relieved over her not being interested in Prince Charming.

“Why would I like Prince Charming when there’s a perfect Cinderella right next to him?” She huffed, laughing.

“Hey! Prince Charming is just as perfect.” Zhengting defended Xukun, slurping his milkshake. Xuanyi looked at him and then smirked, and Zhengting knew he was found out.

“Oh…” She gave him a look. “Does Duffy have a wittle crush?”

He blushed, annoyed, but he didn’t deny it.

“This is great!” Xuanyi grinned, clapping her hands excitedly.

“It is?” Zhengting smiled back, confused at her reaction.

“I like Meiqi and you like Xukun,” She said loudly making Zhengting shushed her loudly, looking around to see if anybody else had hear. But the other workers were immersed on whatever TV show they were watching for the week. It looked like a makeover show—a group of guys with some firefighters were dancing in a dance studio—and it actually looked pretty interesting.

“Yeah, so?” Zhengting turned to her distractedly keeping an eye on what was happening on-screen.

“I’m sure we can cook something up together so each of us end up married into royalty.” Xuanyi laughed, making Zhengting pay full attention to her and laugh as well. She had a contagious laugh.

He felt as if they were kindred souls who were destined to meet and gush about their unrequited loves to each other. Apparently so did she, otherwise she wouldn’t be pushing so much hope onto him.

They got each other.

And maybe if they had met before they would have even considered each other in a romantic way, since they had a lot in common, but now they were way into other people who would probably never be into them the way they wanted them to be.

But that didn’t mean that they couldn’t rant about their respective crushes to each other and in Zhengting’s book that was as good as anything.

Having someone on his side of the road felt nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm updating an hour away from being literally a month since the last chapter... I'm so sorry! But I already finished off most chapters so I'll probably continue updating throughout the weekend.  
> And, yes, I did take that sleeping beauty scene from that one tumblr post that I can't find anymore, so all rights go to that person and their experience.


	4. something there that wasn't there before

It was one of  _those_  days.

The Disney parades were fun and all but not the aftermath.

After every parade all the kids ran up to meet their favorite character. But most kids, if not all of them, came into the park not having a clue about Duffy and his friends. Zhengting should expect it since Duffy had no movie or anything — still, it was rather disappointing when kids asked him who he was and when parents treated him like an old school mascot.

Tokyo Disney would never treat him like this!

Unlike other days, he met Xukun normally. He was just wallowing in his self-pity, kicking the ground with his oversized bear-feet… paws? Were they still called paws even when they were on his hind legs? And that’s another thing! He didn’t know anything about bears! Poor Duffy, he couldn’t catch a break…

Zhengting felt his head being lifted and ended up looking straight into Xukun’s glorious face. Zhengting sighed,  _he looked so good._

“Why the long face, Duffy?” Xukun smiled. His hair looked very fluffy today — it was unfair how cute he looked.

Zhengting looked around discreetly, he was sitting behind one of the food stands, kids were rare around here — Zhengting didn’t know how Xukun always managed to find him regardless of his hiding places. It didn’t help his raging crush on the younger boy at all.

He considered his options and weighted the pros and cons on venting at the younger boy. He saw no reason for not being a drama queen as always, so he just went for it.

“It’s about Duffy.” Zhengting said mournfully. He raised his fur covered arms in distress — he knew he looked ridiculous but Xukun was very sweet about it, looking at him understandingly. “Nobody cares about him!” He cried out in despair.

“That’s not true, I love Duffy.” Xukun said, strangely intense. “In fact, he’s my favorite character.”

“You’re probably the only person in the whole park who thinks like that.” Zhengting smiled half-heartedly. “Maybe it’s me? Maybe I’m not doing a good job as Duffy.”

“I think you’re doing just fine.” Xukun smiled encouragingly at him.

“I don’t even know why I feel so depressed about it, I never even wanted to be Duffy.” Zhengting laughed. “When I applied for the job I wanted to be one of the princes.”

Xukun looked surprised at the new information.

“Really?” He asked intrigued.

“Yep.” Zhengting popped the word. “Obviously, I didn’t make the cut.”

Xukun hummed thoughtfully.

“I used to think that being a fur character was dumb and that compared to the face characters it wasn’t as important.” Zhengting admitted, “I thought I had finally changed my mind about it, but now I can’t help but think like that again.”

"I think your job is very important.” Xukun said softly, patting Zhengting’s arm. “I could never walk around all day in that stuffy suit. I just dress up in this dumb outfit and act out scenes with Meiqi — you literally have to walk around in  _that_  all day and fall all over the place and get beaten up by children." He told Zhengting earnestly.

"I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who goes through that.” Zhengting laughed self-deprecating. “All the other fur characters are pretty good at being one. All except me.”

“I think you’re the best.” Xukun said softly, words already slipping out of his mouth before he could take them back, his eyes went wide once he realized what he said.

Zhengting raised his head to look at him, touched. “Thank y-”

“-Because  _Duffy_  is the best!” Xukun cut him off, yelling out in panic.

Zhengting’s smile slipped off his face— was he seriously competing with a fucking bear for Prince Charming’s attention?

“You really like Duffy, huh?” Zhengting smiled, amused at the way the younger boy was panicking.

“That’s not what I meant.” Xukun groaned while covering his face with his hands.

“It’s fine, Kunkun,” Zhengting consoled him, pulling one of the boy’s hands away from his face. “I already knew you were secretly a furry.” He told him, half-amused and half-dying at Xukun’s cute expression.

"I’m not!" Xukun sputtered, mortified. “Duffy is great but not  _that_ great.”

“You just seem to have a lot of emotions for him.” Zhengting laughed.

Xukun looked at him and thought to hell with it. He was already this deep.

“It mostly has to do with the fact that you’re in there.” Xukun told him shyly.

And Zhengting wanted to die. “Huh?” Zhengting murmured, smile frozen on his face.

“You probably made me like the bear more because you’re so cute.” Xukun admitted, cheeks flushed a pretty pink.

“How do you even know if I’m cute!” Zhengting yelled, embarrassment making him louder. “You’ve never even seen me out of this costume.”

 _Because you won’t let me!_  Xukun screamed in his head. “I just know okay.” Xukun said instead.

“That makes no sense.” Zhengting huffed.

“You have a cute personality thus you must look cute too.” Xukun looked awfully proud of his conclusion.

“That makes  _no_  sense.” Zhengting repeated.

“Yes, it  _does_.” Xukun pouted. “I’ve never been wrong.”

“Your logic is seriously flawed.” Zhengting laughed, shaking his head at the younger boy.

“No, it’s not!” Xukun smiled, looking proud at making Zhengting laugh.  _He was so, so cute_ , Xukun thought.

“Excuse me!” A familiar voice yelled, interrupting whatever Xukun was going to say next.

“VIP: Very Important Peter, coming through.” Justin pushed them aside before walking away with a group of children following his every step. Xinchun passed by, waving at Zhengting quickly before catching up with Justin.

They stared at the obnoxiously green figure until he disappeared around the corner, the cheers of the kids echoing after him.

“He’s a natural, isn’t he?” Xukun smiled amusedly. “It’s like he was made for the that role.”

“The worst thing is that he’s not even acting,” Zhengting sighed good-naturedly, smiling. “That’s just Justin on a daily basis.”

“He must be fun to have around.” Xukun said.

“He is.” Zhengting answered happily.

Zhengting felt a lot better after his talk with Xukun, so later that day he left a little gift for his little prince at his locker — as a thank you.

 

   __

“He gave me a water bottle.”

Ziyi looked up from his crossword puzzle just as Xukun plopped down on the seat across from him.

“What.” Ziyi looked at him blankly.

“He gave me a  _Nongfu Spring Vitamin Water bottle_.”

“Who gave you what now?” Ziyi started to smile, already having an idea of just who would do that.

“Zhengting!” Xukun exclaimed showing him said bottle. Which was surprisingly empty.

“And what’s the problem?” Ziyi smiled indulgently.

“He left a note!” Xukun cried out, sounding pained. Waving the small pink pig-shaped post-it in front of Ziyi’s face. Ziyi smiled more, eyebrows raised.

“He ended it with a smiley face.” Xukun elaborated in a strained voice. “Who still does that? He is too cute.”

“He is.” Ziyi agreed easily. He enjoyed watching his normally cool friend fanboy over the older boy.

“How can somebody be so cute?” Xukun asked softly, after he calmed down a little, looking down at the bottle in his lap fondly.

Ziyi didn’t think Xukun expected an answer so he just shook his head at him, throwing the younger boy a knowing look. Things in Disney definitely got more interesting since Zhengting and his little group of lost boys arrived. Before Ziyi could question his friend more over the contents of the post-it note, Xiao Gui ran into the room.

“What are we talking about?” Xiao Gui asked out of breath as then he sprawled on the couch right next to Xukun. Ziyi heard Bufan enter the room, yelling things at the youngest boy, something about pushing him in a bush? Typical Bufan and Xiao Gui things.

“Xukun is gushing about Zhengting again.” Ziyi said simply, making Xukun snap his head up and glare at him in betrayal.

“Oh?” Xiao Gui smirked knowingly. Xukun groaned just as Bufan arrived at their corner groaning even louder.

“Why do you always have to push me into dangerous things?” Bufan snapped at Xiao Gui as he took his Goofy mask off. “Why can’t you push me in the cotton candy stand or something for once.”

“I mean, sure, I guess, if you want.” Xiao Gui grinned. Xukun and Ziyi exchanged looks. “I’m game if you are.”

“Bufan, dude, I don’t think the cotton candy stand is as soft as you think it is.” Xukun said worriedly.

“The only thing soft there is the cotton candy but unless you want to also be stabbed by wooden sticks, then I wouldn’t recommend it.” Ziyi added, both amused and concerned.

“You-!” Bufan yelled, pulling Xiao Gui up and grabbing him in a headlock. “You want to kill me!?”

“Hey! You were the one who offered!” Xiao Gui defended himself.  

“Well this is for the bush incident then!” Bufan yelled back.

Xukun and Ziyi shared a glance before each turning back to do what they were doing before. In other words, Xukun went to staring back at the empty bottle and post-it note longingly, and Ziyi went back to finishing his crossword puzzle. After a few minutes the other two boys finally settled down and sat down, eating the food Ziyi always grabbed for their little group since he was always the first one to arrive to the break room.

“If my costume rips again you will pay for it this time.” Bufan grumbled before stealing some cookies from Xiao Gui. The little pirate yelled but let him get away with it.

“So, what were you guys talking about before?” Xiao Gui grinned evilly, staring at Xukun, who just glared at him.

“Yeah, and what’s  _that_?” Bufan said, pointing at the empty water bottle and judging the hell out of Xukun’s choice of beverage.

“Zhengting gave it to him.” Ziyi smiled easily.

“What’s wrong with drinking some nice Nongfu Spring Vitamin Water?” Xukun pouted, hugging the empty bottle protectively against his chest.

“That shit is disgusting.” Bufan wrinkled his nose. Xiao Gui hummed in agreement, mouth full of French fries.

“It’s not that bad.” Xukun said defensively. “It’s… refreshing.”

“Sure it is.” Xiao Gui agreed teasingly. “Not as refreshing as Zhengting, I’m sure.”

Ziyi snorted at that but tried to play innocent when Xukun turned to look betrayed again.

“Why did Zhengting give you that?” Bufan asked suddenly. “Did you do something to annoy him?”

Ziyi actually laughed out loud that time. He just shrugged at the look Xukun sent him.

“No! He was thanking me for something.” Xukun said, his pout getting deeper as they continued to tease him.

“He mustn’t have been very thankful if you ask me.” Xiao Gui laughed, diving out of the way of the curly fries Xukun threw in his direction.

“Nobody asked!” Xukun yelled, throwing more fries at him.

“It’s okay, Kun, at least now Disney can sponsor you if you tell them that you were brave enough to drink their golden water.” Ziyi said cheekily, avoiding the fries that flew past him.

“All of you suck.” Xukun laughed. He threw some fries in Bufan’s direction too when he complained about favoritism, but the big oaf just opened his mouth to catch them.

Xukun didn’t care what they thought, he drank the water because Zhengting was sweet enough to give it to him, but mostly, it was for what he wrote on his little note.

_Hi Kunkun! <3_

_I just wanted to thank you for what you told me today, I feel a lot better because of you. I hope you take care of yourself and stay hydrated in this heat!_

_PS. I hope you like nongfu water too! It’s very refreshing! :D_

_Zhu Zhengting._

   

__

 

“Do you guys know why we asked you to come here?” Zhangjing asked the seven boys in front of him. Yixing smiled dazedly beside him.

All seven of them were standing in a line again, it looked oddly similar to when they first got their jobs. Now, however, it looked even stranger since everybody was in full costume. They all looked at each other nervously.

“No?” Zhengting asked smiling anxiously.

“Are we in trouble?” Chengcheng asked suddenly. “Is it because of the pie? Cause I promise I only ate like half of it.”

“What pie?” Yixing asked confused.

“You ate half!?” Zhangjing yelled, glaring daggers at the younger boy.

“What? What pie? Pi? The number? 3.1415? Whaaat?” Chengcheng blabbered, terrified. Xinchun groaned at his stupidity while Zhengting felt mortified. Justin was cackling beside him and Quanzhe elbowed him in the side.

“We didn’t call you because of that,” Zhangjing said tightly, eyes jumping as he looked at Chengcheng once more. “Although we will talk about that later.”

“Damn.” Chengcheng whispered under his breath.

“You’re here to talk about how you’ve been working this past month.” Yixing announced. “A type of employment update, if you will.”

“Oh shit.” Chengcheng said, not under his breath. Zeren slapped the back of his head.

“Are we getting fired?!” Zhengting cried in shock.

“It’s all Chengcheng’s fault!” Justin screamed, pointing at said boy.

“Hey!” Chengcheng yelled, looking completely offended.

“I knew it was too good to be true.” Xinchun shook his head dismayed.

“I’m innocent!” Quanzhe announced while stepping away from Chengcheng.

“I have done nothing at all.” Wenjun added, pushing Chengcheng in front of them.

“This is slander.” Chengcheng huffed, trying to get back in line but nobody let him.

“For god’s sake, all of you shut up!” Zhangjing screamed, making them freeze. He turned to look at Yixing who was laughing his ass off. “I told you that it was not a good idea to bring all seven of them here at the same time because they’re always a mess, but nooo… you think they’re funny when they’re together.”

Zhengting looked at his kids and everybody looked as confused as him. “Why are we actually here then, Zhangjing?” He asked the older boy, stressed out of his mind.

Zhangjing sighed heavily, rubbing his face. Ignoring the way Yixing let out a snort here and there, because he was his boss after all and he already kinda yelled at him.

“The first day we met I was sure that at least half of you were not capable for the job.” Zhangjing admitted, sounding almost guilty. But he was Zhangjing and he never sounded guilty so that probably wasn’t it.

“Gee, thanks.” Chengcheng commented. He flinched a little once he saw Zhengting glaring at him, so he mimed a zipper on his lips.

“-But as time went on we realized that you were all very good at what you do.” Zhangjing continued, ignoring Chengcheng like everybody else.

“We are?!” Chengcheng screamed. Zhengting rolled his eyes, so much for the zipper.

“Really?!” Justin yelled at the same time, surprised at the compliment.

“Yes, really, you are.” Yixing finally piped in again. Smiling brightly at them, they almost swooned as that one dimple appeared for them. “You all manage to make many visitors very happy, you have no idea how many parents have come up to me and thanked me for having such a good Peter, or Mickey or Duffy, how the princes were very charming, etc. etc.”

“You really are good at this job, surprisingly, and I hope you continue doing whatever you’re doing for the rest of this summer.” Zhangjing added, smiling a little at them. They all gasped —Zhangjing actually  _smiled_  at them.

“Thank you, Zhangjing.” Wenjun smiled back warmly. Zhangjing smiled a little bigger.

“Does that mean that we’re getting a raise?” Justin asked brightly.

Yixing snorted before laughing all over again. Zhangjing’s smile fell off just as quickly as it had appeared.

“You wish kid, you’re lucky you aren’t getting fired for all the shit you get away with,” Zhangjing rolled his eyes, though Zhengting could see the beginnings of another smile in the corners of his lips. “Now go on to the break room and there  _might_  be a surprise for you… or half of one.” He whispered the last part, glaring at Chengcheng who smiled sheepishly.

“Oh my god, for real?!” Quanzhe grinned brightly.

“Zhangjing, you’re the best!” Xinchun added excitedly.

“Zhangjing, we love you!” Justin cheered cornily. Zhangjing couldn’t hold the smile in any longer.

“I could kiss you!” Chengcheng screamed in his face.

Zhangjing laughed in disbelief before giving them a deadpan look. “Please don’t, just _go_.” Zhangjing said, pushing the younger boy’s face away from his.

 

  __

A few minutes later in the break room, Meiqi, who was nearby could hear a chorus of screams before Jieqiong’s prince ran out of the room.

“Fan Chengcheng! Come back here you little shit!” Half a Mickey Mouse ran after said prince.

Meiqi looked confused at Cheng Xiao who just shrugged.

Once they entered the break room things didn’t clear up at all if anything things just got more confusing.

A half-dressed Duffy and Gelatoni, Peter Pan, a lost boy, and Prince Phillip were all looking at a half-eaten pastry on the table, clearly distraught.

“Should we ask?” Cheng Xiao whispered cautiously.

Gelatoni fell down on his knees dramatically. Peter Pan poked the remains of the pie sadly. Meiqi was sure Duffy was sniffling.

“Maybe not.” Meiqi said quietly, before slowly backtracking to the door.

And that’s how Cinderella and Belle ended up eating in the cafeteria among tiny, tiny toddlers.

Not that anybody asked.

Not that they would answer why anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think this is the shortest chapter for this story (and it's still pretty longish)  
> it's mostly a filler chapter tbh but i felt like i needed to put something up regardless  
> and in this chapter and the next, zzt is gonna be a little depressed but it'll pass and then it's gonna be the big reveal everybody has been waiting for sooo enjoy the calm before the storm ٩(^ᴗ^)۶


	5. face it like a grown-up

Xukun’s group was already in the break room when he arrived— weeks ago they had decided to synch their lunch breaks, so they could hang out together, otherwise they wouldn’t see each other much at all. They greeted him briefly before going back to their discussion about something. Xukun didn’t care. His problems were more important than if Esmeralda should be or not be considered a Disney Princess.

He sighed.

Now they included Alice and Mulan in the discourse.

Xukun sighed again.

Xiao Gui said something about how Kuzco should be considered Disney Prince then.

Xukun sighed more loudly.

Finally, Ziyi —his best friend, his best bro, the only one he could trust— turned to him.

“Is something wrong, Kun?” Ziyi asked Xukun.

“No, it’s nothing.” Xukun sighed sadly, looking to the side.

Ziyi looked at him for a moment. “Okay, if you say so.” And turned right back into the conversation.

Xukun looked at him in disbelief. Well, okay, now Ziyi was in his blacklist too. He could trust no one after all.

He sighed aggressively, almost damaging his throat with the force.

Finally — _finally_ — all three of them turned to look at him.

“What’s with you?” Xiao Gui asked him, looking annoyed at the interruption.

“I’m depressed! Can’t you see!” Xukun glared, pointing at his face —which looked totally normal to them— dramatically.

“Oh. no. what. really, why?” Bufan said disinterestedly, putting his huge white glove over his chest in fake concern.

“You guys suck.” Xukun cracked a smile. Ziyi smiled.

“What’s really wrong though?” He asked more seriously.

“I’ve just been thinking—” Xukun said sadly.

“You’ve what?!” Xiao Gui gasped audibly right in his face. “Kun, no! You’ll hurt yourself!”

“You’re such an asshole.” Xukun laughed, pushing him away.

“What have you been thinking about?” Ziyi coaxed him into answering.

“I’ve been thinking about Zhengting.” Xukun confessed softly.

And then everybody groaned in unison— much to Xukun’s annoyance.

“No freaking way.” Xiao Gui rolled his eyes.

“When are you _not_?” Bufan yelled.

“Why are we even surprised?” Ziyi laughed at the situation.

Xukun huffed.

“As _I_ was saying!” He raised his voice a little. “I’ve been thinking about how it’s been like a month since he started working here and since I’ve met him, and I still haven’t seen his face yet.”

“Wait, what?” Bufan asked dumbfounded.

“You’ve never seen him out of his costume? _Never_?” Xiao Gui furrowed his eyebrows. “That’s weird.”

“Yeah,” Bufan agreed. “I see him all the time.”

“I know, right?” Xiao Gui said thoughtfully. “I’m actually trying to remember a time when I’ve seen him _with_ the Duffy mask on.”

Ziyi stayed silent during the whole conversation, looking nervously at the way Xukun’s face fell.

“What.”

Xiao Gui and Bufan stopped talking and turned to look at the way Xukun tensed up.

“You've seen Zhengting without the costume?!” Xukun yelled distraught. He had been _so_ sure they all shared his misfortune. The betrayal, man, the deception.

“I’m pretty sure everyone has seen Zhengting without the costume.” Xiao Gui shrugged his shoulders, noncommittally.

“Unlike what you may think, Xukun, we don't actually live inside the costume.” Bufan rolled his eyes, pointing at his goofy mask taking up half the couch, as if to prove a point.

“But I’ve never— “Xukun whined.

“Maybe if you arrived on time like everybody else does, you’d get to see him before he puts it on.” Ziyi told him while opening one of the baby carrot packets around the table. "Just a thought."

“I’m not always late.” Xukun grumbled. The other three turned to look at him incredulously.

“You’re lucky you get off easy because of your pretty face,” Bufan said annoyed. “The rest of us peasants can’t afford to arrive late because Zhangjing will cut our heads off.”

Xukun smiled smugly and Ziyi huffed a laugh before shaking his head at the boy.

“Okay, fine, I’m not good at waking up early but what about during breaks? Or at the end of the day when everyone goes home? He’s never here and I am.” Xukun pointed out and pouted.

“That... I don’t know, actually.” Ziyi hesitated, pursing his lips in thought.

“It’s kinda suspicious now that you mention it.” Xiao Gui added.

“What do you mean?” Bufan asked what Xukun was thinking.

“Zhengting is always here during break time with the rest of his group, but right when Xukun’s break starts, Zhengting just kinda disappears.” Xiao Gui frowned thoughtfully.

“That does sound weird.” Ziyi agreed. Xukun frowned at them.

“Do you think he’s avoiding me?” Xukun asked worriedly.

“Did you do something to annoy him?” Bufan asked, eyes little slits of judgment.

“What? No! of course not.” Xukun furrowed his eyebrows. “Why do you always think I did something to annoy Zhengting.”

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me.” Bufan bluffed, looking ridiculous while moving his Goofy hands around accusingly.

“I haven’t annoyed him.” Xukun gritted his teeth annoyed. “However, you’re annoying _me_.”

Bufan hmphed.

“Then if you’re so sure you didn’t annoy him… I don’t think he is avoiding you?” Bufan said uncertainly.

“This is just great!” Xukun huffed turning to Ziyi and Xiao Gui. “Why would Zhengting hide his face from me but not from you guys? It’s so unfair.”

“Why are you so upset about it, Kun? Jealous?” Xiao Gui grinned teasingly. The other two laughed when Xukun blushed. Because of course he was. Everybody and their mothers already knew that.

“OMG you are!” Bufan screeched in delight, clapping his hands.

“I can’t believe you just said ‘OMG’, straight to my face, unironically.” Xukun cringed at him.

“I can’t believe you're jealous.” Bufan sing-songed, laughing as he ran away from Xukun’s fist.

“Well I can,” Ziyi chuckled. “Because Zhengting is very cute and Kun is missing out on some serious eye candy.” Everyone seemed to agree on that and Xukun felt a little irritated over that comment but choose not to comment on it. Because Xukun wasn’t jealous, nope, not at all.

“So he's hot?” Xukun asked curiously. He tried to imagine how Zhengting would look like, but nothing fit. Zhengting was so many things at once, so many good things, that it didn’t feel right to imagine a face Xukun might have seen on a stranger or on a model or something.

“I said cute.” Ziyi pointed out.

“How cute is cute?” Xukun asked.

“Cuter than Nong.” Xiao Gui admitted, changing the channels to the TV.

“Cuter than Nong!?” Now Xukun was intrigued. “Is he cuter than Hao?”

“Different cutes.” Ziyi said simply while Bufan yelled “NOBODY IS CUTER THAN HAOHAO” in the background.

But at that point Xukun had stopped listening as he digested the new information — and then he grinned proudly.

He totally called it when he said that Zhengting was cute.

Now he just had to find out for himself.

 

  

 

“What are you doing?” Somebody whispered in Zhengting’s ear, making him shout in surprise.

“Wenjun, what the hell!” Zhengting whined, rubbing his ear with his paw.

Wenjun laughed, leaning against the wall Zhengting was hiding behind. Wenjun had just walked into the break room when he saw his friend crouching down behind one of the small divisions in the room— one that effectively isolated him from the rest of the break room.

Wenjun stood up on his toes and looked over the small wall, realizing immediately what the older boy was doing once he caught sight of Prince Charming sitting in one of the couches surrounded by his friends.

“Are you still hiding from Xukun?” Wenjun asked softly, looking down at Zhengting and the way his eyelashes cast shadows against his cheeks from this angle.

Zhengting pouted sadly before nodding.

“Why?” Wenjun asked, his voice chastising.

“I don’t know!” Zhengting moaned pitifully, softly, as to not bring to much attention. He sat down fully against the wall, Duffy head big in his lap. Wenjun sat down next to him, not even bothering to care about if his pants would get dirty or not. His friend was sad, and he wanted to help.

“I just get so worried all the time now, about what he will think when he eventually sees me.” Zhengting whispered softly. “Without Duffy in the way, I mean.”

“He’ll see _you_. The real you.” Wenjun smiled, bumping his shoulder against the older boy. “And he’ll love you.”

Zhengting smiled up at him before frowning again.

“I don’t know, Jun, I don’t think so.”

“What are you talking about?” Wenjun teased gently. “What happened to the Zhengting who would constantly shower himself with compliments and rank himself number one in terms of looks among us?”

“I think he started disappearing after he realized that he wasn’t that hot.” Zhengting mumbled through his pout.

Wenjun frowned, he didn’t like seeing Zhengting like this. “When did that happen?”

“After we got this job.” Zhengting answerer truthfully. Wenjun went silent, thinking back on that day, and then he realized.

“Zheng, do you think you’re not attractive because you didn’t get a Prince role?” Wenjun asked in disbelief.

“It’s not just because of that but it started then.” Zhengting defended himself half-heartedly. “It’s a lot of things, actually, I don’t know why.”

“Things like what?” Wenjun inquired curiously.

“I’ve just been feeling down lately,” Zhengting said softly, not really going into detail but Wenjun wasn’t going to pry.

Zhengting already admitted a lot more things than he normally would. Always trying to not bother anybody with his problems as if being the oldest automatically made him the most emotionally stable one. Wenjun’s heart went out for his friend and he knew that he alone wouldn’t be able to help him but maybe he could try a bit, in his own way.

“Whatever you’re going through, Zhengting, just know we’re here for you, kay?” He smiled gently. And was rewarded with a small but genuine smile from Zhengting, the thankful look the other boy sent him was enough, for now. “Now, if you’re not going to go out there and eat with me here, do you want to go to the food court and eat there?” He asked, standing up.

Zhengting looked up from his spot on the ground. He stared at the hand Wenjun offered, then he smiled and accepted it, and was pulled to his feet.

“You know I can’t take my Duffy head off in public right?” Zhengting smiled amiably.

“I’ll just have to sneak you things in, then.” Wenjun beamed. “Just don’t get your costume dirty or Zhangjing will have a stroke.”

Zhengting laughed, thinking back of when Chengcheng did that, before agreeing. He put his Duffy head back on and they slipped out of the break room quickly, neither one noticing that Xukun had watched them go, anxiously biting his lip.

That break, Zhengting spent it next to Wenjun, and true to his word, Wenjun slipped him every piece of food he got hands on. They sat in a corner trying to not draw the attention of the visitors but after ten minutes they found themselves surrounded by children who wanted to eat with Duffy and Prince Phillip and it was hard to be discreet about the food, but it was fun, and the kids were adorable — by the end of lunch he had forgotten a little bit about his problems.

 

  

 

Zhengting was still feeling a little bit down after his and Wenjun’s impromptu lunch break but it had helped a little. He was just exhausted, so on his day off he really just wanted to lay around and not do anything but of course Justin had to arrive and drag him out of his comfy bed —that kid seemed to have a sixth sense for whenever Zhengting was down. One both him and Wenjun seemed to share, and as much as Zhengting wanted to act as if it annoyed him, he felt incredibly fond and grateful for the friends he had.

It was also Justin’s day off, the rest of the guys still had to go to work, so it was a JiaZheng-day only. It had been a while since only them two hung out —they just went around and shopped before they eventually settled for eating some hotpot.

They spoke about everything and nothing, and Zhengting was more relaxed than he had been in a while. Justin always made it easier to talk so he just let him rant about all the annoying visitors he had to deal with, some of the funniest things he had done as Peter Pan, and of all the leeway he got by being Peter.

"So anyway," Justin's tone changed a bit and Zhengting knew that this was really what Justin had brought him out for. "Xukun, huh?"

Zhengting sighed. He should have known.

"What about him?" Zhengting asked.

"You know what." Justin made a face at him, slightly irritated at Zhengting’s avoidance.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Zhengting shrugged innocently.

"Since when are you so embarrassed over your looks?" Justin asked him with an eye roll, going straight to the point. He passed the meat over to the older boy.

"I'm not." Zhengting said weakly, he pushed the meat into the hot broth.

"Then why are you suddenly so shy about showing your face to Xukun?"

"It's just... He always looks so well-put together all princely and shit and at the end of the day I always look like a mess because I sweat all day in a bear costume. I just don't want his first impression of me to be that."

"He already has a first impression of you, Zhengting." Justin pointed out. "He, _weirdly_ , liked it."

"It's because of the bear!" Zhengting cried.

"I really don't think that's it." Justin snickered.

"Maybe if I arrived all handsome and well-dressed like I normally look I wouldn't feel as embarrassed about seeing him." Zhengting admitted. "But how can I look at him feeling ugly and sweaty— especially after all the stupid things I've done in front of him." He cried.

"Ahh..." Justin nodded. "There it is. You feel dumb."

"It's just another reason, but yes."

"But that's part of you, Zhengting." Justin smiled. "In and out of the costume you always act the same. Kind of an airhead, very clumsy, but also kind of cute. It's one of the reasons why we love you."

Zhengting was so touched in that moment. Justin rarely talked seriously with him and it was even more rare of him to actually say something kind of sweet directly to Zhengting’s face.

"It's different with you guys because you gradually got to know me like this and I really like Xukun."

"Gee, thanks."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, you have a crush." Justin teased. "I get it, but you can't really hide from him for the rest of the summer."

"I can try."

Justin gave him a judging look while eating his hotpot.

"Okay, fine." Zhengting sighed. "I won't hide forever but give me some time to mentally prepare myself."

"Got it, boss." Justin saluted and Zhengting couldn't help but smile. Justin really was his baby.

"Now finish eating, if the rest of the guys find out we are eating hotpot without them they're going to kill me."

"Oh, they already know." Justin admitted sheepishly.

"What?!"

"I sent a picture earlier to the group chat."

"Minghao!"

"Whaaat? It was a good picture! I'm the best photographer in the world of course my pictures are great." Justin said proudly.

"Let me see." Zhengting opened his palms and accepted the phone.

And indeed, it was a good picture. It showed the food looking delicious and aesthetic and everything, with Zhengting looking to the side not noticing he was being photographed. He actually looked good and despite how he felt, he looked pretty handsome, not to toot his own horn… but totally tooting his own horn.

"You really have to pay attention when people take pictures of you, you never know." Justin smiled secretively.

Zhengting, however, didn’t notice since he was reading the messages the rest of the guys sent.

Zeren and Wenjun were very betrayed and had sent a series of crying emojis and memes. Quanzhe and Xinchun said they were going to run away and find a better mother. And Chengcheng just went on and on about how he knew that Justin was Zhengting's favorite child.

"Great." Zhengting moaned, rubbing his temples. "Now I'm going to have to buy food for all of them until they love me again."

Justin cackled, asking the waiter for more side dishes.

Zhengting sighed but smiled at the boy and ate a piece of watermelon.

 

  

 

“Call me Pooh 'cause all I want is you, _Honey_.”

Zhengting laughed.

The day had started relatively normal and then he walked into the breakroom and realized that the only person he shared it with, that he knew, was Yanjun. So here he was, minutes later, and Yanjun had already bombarded him with one-liners.

“Wait, wait, I have another one, want to hear it?” Yanjun exclaimed excitedly, sitting up straighter.

“Go ahead.” Zhengting smiled, looking at the older boy through sweaty bangs. Surprisingly he never felt much self-conscious around Yanjun, despite him being a prince too and a rather good-looking one at that.

“There are people who say Disneyland is the happiest place on earth.” He began, smiling dashingly. “Apparently, none of them have ever been in your arms.”

“Oh no, boo.” Zhengting groaned, making a cross with his arms.

“What about-” Yanjun raised a hand dramatically. “I'd show you my world, but I'm sure you own a mirror.”

Zhengting made a face, shaking his head.

“You can call me Nemo, because I'm gonna touch the _butt_.” Yanjun offered, smirking lewdly.

“I really want hit you.” Zhengting cringed, a few giggles slipping out here and there.

“Final one!” Yanjun asked with a pout, holding up one finger.

Zhengting smile indulgently. "Knock yourself out."

“If I were Peter Pan, you would be my happy thought.” Yanjun smiled softly, dimpling handsomely.

Zhengting’s smile went a little fond.

“Okay, I’ll let that one pass, it was pretty cute.” He admitted with a laugh.

“Not as cute as you, my pretty fairy.” Yanjun beamed, happy that Zhengting approved one of his lines.

He watched Zhengting for a few minutes fondly.

“I’m glad to see you laughing again.”

That comment made Zhengting’s tummy flutter a little, which surprised him.

“Oh?” Zhengting asked, traces of his smile still on his face.

“You just seemed a little down lately.” Yanjun said. “I thought that maybe you’d appreciate my amazing jokes and dashing personality.”

Zhengting giggled. Deep down though he was very touched at the fact that Yanjun not only noticed his low spirits but also tried to cheer him up in a very typical Yanjun manner — and unlike everybody else, he didn’t need to have a deep, heartfelt conversation with Zhengting, just joking around cheered him up enough.

“Yanjun, break’s over!” Zhangjing growled from the doorway. Yanjun turned to look at him before standing up with a very deep sigh of disappointment.

“It seems I have to take my leave, my Princess.” He pouted. “Time sure flies by quickly when I’m beside you.”

“See you around, my Prince” Zhengting said smiling. “And thank you.” He added quickly but sincerely.

Yanjun smiled brightly, dimples showing again, making Zhengting internally swoon. Yanjun gave him a little bow before turning to leave, all dashing and prince-like and whatnot.

Moments like these made Zhengting wonder how different it would be if he liked Yanjun instead of Xukun.

He never felt the need to hide away or shy away from Yanjun like he does with Xukun. But then again, being conscious of oneself in front of another is what makes your crush a crush.

 _It really does matter who you meet first, doesn’t it?_ Zhengting thought wistfully, watching Yanjun be bossed around by Zhangjing out of the room. The Prince turned to look back at him once more—and he looked slightly flustered to find Zhengting’s eyes already on him—and waved broadly with a grin.

Zhengting smiled back, raising a hand to give a small wave back.

Zhengting went back to eating his lunch, never once noticing the two pair of eyes that looked at him curiously from across the room.

 

  

 

“If I were you, I’d pull a move on your little bear.” Xiao Gui said to Xukun as a form of greeting when Xukun passed by the Captain Hook’s ship later in the afternoon. “And soon.”

“Excuse me?” Xukun frowned. He saw that Meiqi had stopped to talk to Tinkerbell, both still in character.

“During lunch earlier, Goofy and I saw your boy looking awfully close to Prince Eric.” Xiao Gui grinned mischievously.

Xukun could feel the way his face dropped. He tried to smile again, trying to get back in character, but it probably looked a little more crazed than he hoped it would.

“Did he now?” He asked calmly. Xiao Gui smiled brightly at him.

That _bastard_... he was enjoying this way too much.

“Yep.” He popped his ‘p’. “They were laughing and flirting and smiling a lot, you know, because Zhengting never wears his mask when he talks to Yanjun, ya' know.” He shrugged innocently.

Xukun’s smile felt painful by that point. He blinked once, twice, thrice.

“Any reason you’re telling me this now? In public? Instead of in the breakroom?” He asked in fake cheer.

Xiao Gui beamed.

“For this exact reason.” He said, motioning to Xukun’s entire face with his hand.

“Charming!” Meiqi called from ahead. And with good timing too. It wouldn’t do well for his job if Prince Charming ended up beating a pirate in public. No matter how _evil_ they were.

“I’m going to kill you later.” Xukun whispered into Xiao Gui’s ear.

“If you can find me.” Xiao Gui chortled before moving back into his ship.

That little shit.

Xukun tried to continue his day normally, trying to smile and be kind to all the visitors but even Meiqi noticed something was off with him. She stepped in to bring more attention to her than his bad mood and he was extremely thankful he had such a good friend as his princess.

He tried to get his head in the game again, but the new information had successfully ruined the rest of his day. Xukun couldn’t help but think nonstop about what type of relationship Yanjun and Zhengting had, and what Zhengting thought about the other prince — and why did Zhengting even hang out with so many princes, first Prince Phillip now Prince Eric? —but mostly, why did Zhengting let _Yanjun_ see him without a mask but not Xukun?

Xukun really tried to ignore the apprehension that suddenly filled his chest but the feeling still niggled at the back of his mind. But he was fine! Totally cool! Cool as a cucumber! And so what if he glared at Prince Eric especially hard during the parade… it had nothing to do with what Xiao Gui said earlier —because Cai Xukun didn’t get jealous! What right did he have really, truly, he swore on his favorite fishnet shirt he _wasn’t_ jealous— and everything to do with how he thought Yanjun looked remarkably stupid in his prince costume that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is ending up longer than I thought it would be but here is a Xukun-filled chapter!  
> I'm honestly loving yanjun here ╥﹏╥  
> anyways next chapter is gonna be a quanzhe-centric chapter cause i feel like he doesn't appear much and then the next I'm almost positive is the reveal one... probably?  
> (btw does anybody get which songs do the ch titles come from?)
> 
> also... my twitter is @little_sons if anybody want updates from there and little extra info that may not be explicitly written in the story ٩(^ᴗ^)۶


	6. faith and trust and pixie dust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been sooo long and I'm sorry but I did just return to my final year of college and I unintentionally put this story in the backseat.  
> Thank you for all the kudos and all the comments, they truly make my day everytime I get one!
> 
> As always this is un-betaed so I'm sorry if they are some mistakes or something I'll try to fix them later.

Zhengting was a dreamer.

He liked the idea of things happening because they were meant to. He was idealistic in that way.

He never thought that people didn’t think like him—being the self-centered fool he was— he was sure that everyone was a dreamer too, deep down. So it came as a surprise when he got to know Xukun better— to find out that Xukun was not a dreamer.

Even his friends weren’t as serious as the younger boy was. That wasn’t a bad thing, really, Zeren always told Zhengting that he would have to find someone with their feet on the ground since Zhengting basically lived in the clouds. And Xukun was everything he wasn’t but he didn’t mind it at all. He actually really, really liked it.

Being a dreamer had a lot to do with why Zhengting was so excited to work at Disney, since he knew that something cool would inevitably happen. The saying that Disney was the happiest place on Earth and magical and whatnot, he really believed in it. So of course he would hold on to the opportunity of a summer romance with the handsome prince the minute he met him because how much more romantic and magical can that be, right? A summer romance at Disney? With one of the Disney princes? My  _god_ , that was straight out of a direct-to-DVD teenage romcom movie. With all the clichés in the book, and Zhengting was a sucker for clichés.

Zhengting was also the type of person to let things flow naturally, if they were meant to be, they were meant to be. Reason number one of why he has never had a boyfriend or girlfriend before is that he has never actively gone and asked people out no matter how much he liked them because a) he was way too shy and insecure to actually confess to anybody, ever, b) he thought that if it didn’t happen naturally it wasn’t meant to be, and c) hell nah, if they didn’t confess to him it was because they weren’t interested, duh.

On why his relationship with Xukun hasn’t flourished into anything else… —is because of Duffy, mainly,  _obviously_ — but also because Zhengting doesn’t know what to do now that fate or destiny or whatever great deity is in charge of his romantic life seems to have a plan for him and the other boy, and he sure as hell doesn’t know what to do nor how to tell the boy he likes that he likes him.

Because for the first time ever, Zhengting was the one to actively look for the boy he likes, this time he didn’t wait around for the other boy to go to him. So can he be blamed for freaking out? It is unknown territory for him after all.

So  _yeah_ , he basically stalked the prince’s work area for weeks but like, they would never interact otherwise, he was very much aware of that, especially now… that he stopped going there.

 

   

 

After the talk with Justin, which left him with a weight in his chest for the better part of the week, he just couldn’t find it in him to go out of his way just to see Xukun. He still saw him around, because he wasn’t gonna stop himself from getting to see the gorgeous view of Xukun in his full Prince Charming costume daily—but now it was less face-to-face and more of a ten-feet-away-behind-a-pretzel-stand kind of appreciation.

He knew his time was running out, and that was what was freaking him out. He knew Justin was right —and god was that strange to think— but he also knew himself, and the big dumb coward he was. How was he supposed to go to Xukun and unveil himself in the less cringy way possible? Zhengting knew —with the type of luck he had, the high expectations he had, and just the fucking clumsiness he was known for— he  _knew_  that the outcome wasn’t going to be a good one.

His friends were horrible, and they were pressuring him too much, and couldn’t they just let him do this by the end of the summer, on their very last day, when they finished their jobs and he wouldn’t have to ever see Xukun again after the younger boy got to see the real mess Zhengting was beneath all the bear fur?

And he knew his friends were annoyed already by his whole evading the problem plan. Just the other day Chengcheng had the audacity to tell Zhengting that he was a big baby who should grow up and learn to go and grasp the things he wanted instead of expecting the world to give them to him— and like, since when did Chengcheng learn to use ‘grasp’ in a sentence correctly? Who does that little shit think he is to have the right to judge him? And be right about it? Zhengting was very much aware of just how much of a big baby he was, thank you very much, he knew that he wasn’t daring enough to go up to Cai Xukun and do that, which was the reason he was freaking the  _fuck out_.

Of course Zhengting wanted the Big Reveal **TM**  to be something out of a movie, where he looked fresh and handsome and his makeup was on fleek and his hair was soft and luscious and perfect, and where Xukun’s reaction was super good and he was instantly in love with Zhengting and his face and his winning personality.

However, as much of a wishful thinker that he was, he wasn’t naive enough to expect that to actually happen.

 

   

 

Xukun was acting weird.

More than usual, that is.

Whenever Zhengting bumped into him— accidently this time cause he was in a way kind of avoiding him—he had this kicked puppy look on his face, and he would send Zhengting these woeful looks across the park whenever he would see Zhengting as Duffy around one of the other workers.

He started asking Zhengting which parts of the park he liked the most and all the things he liked to do and what he thought of the other workers—  _what do you think about the other princes? Prince Phillip is rather bland compared to Prince Charming, don't you think? Prince Charming is totally better than Prince Eric, right? What do you_ really _think Zhengzheng?_ — and Zhengting didn’t understand why Xukun was suddenly so interested in his opinions about the other princes, especially since Xukun wasn’t even that much of a Disney fan so he couldn’t care less about Zhengting’s ranking of the princes. Regardless, Zhengting was starting to get nervous since he knew that his time _was running out._  

He was not hiding, per say, but he may or may not be casually walking behind certain stands, to stay out of Xukun’s view, normal stuff, not suspicious at all, of course.

Then he saw a huge cat head, poking out of one of the crevices between the buildings, that he hadn’t seen in a while. And his distraction AKA a reason to not feel guilty for avoiding Xukun, was finally here!

“Quanzhe?” he asked through his Duffy head and he saw Quanzhe’s messy blonde hair snap in his direction.

“Zhengting? H-hey.” Quanzhe said nervously, playing with Gelatoni’s ears.

Zhengting looked around discreetly and he was surprised to find the little corner much more restricted than he originally thought, so he too took off his bear head.

“It’s so hot in there.” Zhengting sighed before sitting down next to the younger boy.

Quanzhe smiled weakly.

“Nice little hiding place you found yourself.” Zhengting raised his eyebrow curiously. And Quanzhe looked strange. Zhengting couldn’t remember the last time he saw Quanzhe in his little cat costume. Most of the times he only saw Quanzhe when they arrived in the morning to work or in the evening when they all carpooled in Wenjun’s car.

Weren’t Duffy and Gelatoni friends who were supposed to be around each other a lot?

“Haven’t seen you around the park for a while.” Zhengting smiled awkwardly. Quanzhe looked uncomfortable for some reason, he was avoiding his eyes… “Hey, are you okay?”

Quanzhe froze up but tried to shrug it off and that’s when Zhengting got suspicious.

“M-me? I’m fine! Why would you ask that? I’m super okay.” Quanzhe laughed it off.

Zhengting squinted at him.

“Really?” He asked softly.

“Yeah, I’m great.” Quanzhe smiled tightly.

Zhengting knew he was lying but he didn’t want to push it because when Quanzhe didn’t want to say something, he wouldn’t, and pushing him would only make him close up even more. He knew that much of his friend

“Okay, if you say so.” Zhengting lilted.

Not a second later, Quanzhe broke.

“I hate this job!” Quanzhe confessed loudly clapping both hands over his mouth in shock.

Zhengting looked shocked at his outburst for a moment. Well, that was unexpected.

“What?”

“It’s so hard, Zhengting, I feel like I’m never doing anything right, Gelatoni is a nobody and nobody cares about him.” Quanzhe rambled quickly, as if he couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “I never get noticed at all, in or out of the costume, and it's honestly doing horrible things to my self-esteem.” He whispered the last part quickly with an annoyed look. “The money is fine, but I mean, I'm sweating my ass- “

“Language.” Zhengting whispered half-heartedly, watching Quanzhe run off at the mouth.

“-out here every day trying to give people happiness or whatever, but they just seem to suck me dry of happiness in return.”

“Quanzhe…” Zhengting murmured regretfully.

“It just feels so unfulfilling, there are days when I don’t even want to come to work because it’s so draining.”

_My poor poor baby_. Zhengting frowned deeply.

“But then I would see you guys,” Quanzhe continued sadly. “And all of you look so happy and you’re enjoying this experience so much, and you guys are really the only reason I keep coming back and haven’t quit.”

Zhengting stayed quiet, letting Quanzhe let off steam. He obviously needed to vent way more than Zhengting ever has.

“I just want to enjoy it as much as you guys do, and if I quit I won't be able to see you guys at all during the rest of the summer and I… I- “He pouted sadly and Zhengting’s heart gave a little twinge at the pout.

“Oh sweetheart, I feel the same way.” Zhengting said understandingly.

Quanzhe looked at him strangely. “What? No, you don’t.” He said scoffing.

Now that made Zhengting stop short. Excuse you?

“What! Why not!” He exclaimed indignantly. Quanzhe rolled his eyes.

“You're like the best one at your job.” He said matter-of-factly.

Wait what.

“ _What_?” Zhengting asked perplexed. “Since when?”

“Since, the start?” Quanzhe smiled, confused at the turn of events. “Everyone flocks to you, as always, everyone knows about you. You sell super well; didn’t you know that the Duffy dolls started selling more since you became Duffy?”

“They have?!”

Why the hell had they not given him a raise then?

“Yeah! And then all the other workers like you so much and you're friends with basically everyone and you’re even having a summer romance! At Disney! With a  _prince_!?!”

Ah, so Quanzhe was the one who inherited Zhengting’s romanticality.  _It felt good being a mother_ … Zhengting sighed contently before remembering what Quanzhe said.

“I’m literally hiding my face from him!” He yelled appalled.

“Exactly! It's like a fucking movie come to life for fucks sake.”

“ _Oh my god_ , what have you done with my Quanzhe? Why are you cursing so much!?” Zhengting yelled in dismay, one paw up to his chest dramatically.

“I’m so stressed!” Quanzhe cried frazzled. So Zhengting pulled him into a hug, the fabric of both their costumes combined made for a kind of uncomfortable hug, but they both ignored it and just sat there for a while, in their hot and itchy animal costumes, with Zhengting patting Quanzhe’s matted hair softly.

“I’ve been cursing so much in my head because I’m so angry at my job.” Quanzhe murmured sadly.

“I didn’t know you hated it so much.” Zhengting said just as sadly, as softly.

“I made sure you didn’t.” Quanzhe sighed, pulling away from their embrace. “I didn’t want to be the Debbie downer who ruined everyone’s fun.”

“Quanzhe,” Zhengting frowned. “If this job made you so unhappy we would all literally quit and go hang out with you to cheer you up. No doubts, no overthinking. We would drop everything for you.”

“I know.” Quanzhe said with a half-smile. “I would too, that’s why I didn’t want to tell any of you, because if keeping you guys happy meant working a shitty job I would, I  _did_.”

Zhengting felt so bad for his baby. He should have noticed before, he should have paid more attention to his friend, but all this summer had done was bring some of his worst qualities out of him. He has been very selfish and self-absorbed, only thinking about him and his Xukun-related problems. All of that had made him a bad friend.

“I thought you were doing a really good job as Gelatoni, I thought I was the bad fur character.” Zhengting admitted after a brief silence. “There were so many days where I also didn’t even want to come here, that I held in my thoughts or feelings because I saw that everyone else was literally having the time of their lives working here.”

Quanzhe turned to look at him. “You did?” He asked wide-eyed, all innocent and trusting, the way only Quanzhe looked at Zhengting whenever he spoke seriously.

“Yeah.” Zhengting smiled, shrugging slightly. “We got the short end of the stick, it seems, us fur characters.”

“We were pretty dumb then.” Quanzhe said pensively.

“We totally are.” Zhengting laughed, nudging the younger boy with his shoulder.

Quanzhe finally cracked a smile, and for the first time since the start of this conversation, Zhengting felt like he could breathe normally again.

“I’m not going to lie and say that you should continue working here because it’ll get better or something, especially since this job makes you so unhappy, because I’m not somebody who can promise you that.” Zhengting said seriously. “But I can try to talk to Zhangjing and see if maybe you can work on something else, something better for you, something you’ll like doing.”

“You’d do that?” Quanzhe asked in relief, Zhengting could almost literally see the weight lift from his small shoulders.

“Unless he wants to have seven less workers, while the park’s real actual workers are still on a strike, I'm sure he’ll agree on something.” Zhengting nodded.

“Thank you.” Quanzhe said sincerely with a small smile. He looked so cute that Zhengting promptly went to start squishing his cheeks before he stopped.

“Quanzhe, no!” He cried in distress, pulling Quanzhe’s head to his chest. “What happened to your cheeks!”

Quanzhe huffed.

“Have you not been eating!? Lee Quanzhe, you little shit do you avoid breaks with us because you’re not eating?!” Zhengting yelled angrily, pushing the little cheeks he had left together to make a squishy face.

“No, that’s not it! Really!” Quanzhe yelled somewhat offended, his voice coming out muffled because of the way Zhengting was squishing his face.

Zhengting glared.

“Ask Yanchen!” Quanzhe exclaimed. “Most of my breaks I've spent it with him and Zhenghao I promise!”

“They're basically strangers and you’re always super shy when you eat in front of strangers, so you never eat much…. You’ve practically been starving yourself.” Zhengting said in pain. “Starting now you’re eating with us  _forever,_ or until I see your cheeks forming into little buns again.”

“Fine.” Quanzhe laughed, pushing himself away from Zhengting.

“You avoided breaks because you’re also a bad liar, didn’t you?” Zhengting said with his disappointed mom face. Not that he knew that that was what all his kids called that face.

Quanzhe looked properly chastised, he hated being on the receiving end of that face.

“I'm sorry.”

“I can't believe you managed to avoid this conversation for almost a month,” Zhengting said thoughtfully before crying out, “We’re the worst!”

“No! You're not! You're the best, I’m the worst.” Quanzhe cried.

“Noo you’re the victim here, we’re the assholes.” Zhengting said with a pout.

“We’re all the worst?” Quanzhe offered as a sort of compromise.

“We’re all the worst.” Zhengting agreed readily.

They looked at each other for all of three seconds before bursting out laughing at how ridiculous they were.

Quanzhe felt lighter than he had in weeks, and he had missed laughing with his friend. Zhengting ruffled his head, automatically knowing what he was thinking, as he always did.

“Now let's go back to work and later we will tell everyone what’s been going on and make them feel guilty too.” Zhengting shrugged easily, making Quanzhe laugh. “We can sleep over at my Chengcheng’s today and eat our feelings out, yeah? I think he bought like ten ice cream pints the other day, he was also a bad friend, so he has to give you some.”

Quanzhe smiled brightly.

“Can we watch movies?”

“Whichever ones you want.” Zhengting smiled lovingly, brushing the younger boy’s hair back.

They stood up and put on their respective animal heads. And then started walking back to the actual park.

“I can't believe you thought I was doing a good job.” Quanzhe giggled through his kitty mask.

“Are you kidding me? I managed to get lost every day for the first two weeks while also falling down every three steps until now?” Zhengting laughed. “I always lost sight of you and Yanchen for hours because of that.”

“Yeah, but that’s because Yanchen never left my side since I would also trip, and the only reason I never got lost was because he literally never let me get too far away from him. He let you be because you were more independent and were doing a better job apparently.”

Zhengting stopped walking at that, truly confused. How the hell did people actually think he was doing a good job when he himself knows he has been half-assing the job since day one?

“When did all this happen?” Zhengting laughed incredulously. “You're telling me that the reason I kept getting lost was because Yanchen had way too much faith in me?”

“Basically.” Quanzhe shrugged.

“Wow.” Zhengting huffed. “Miscommunication is a real thing, isn’t it?”

Quanzhe shook his head and laughed before moving on.

 

   

 

As expected, all the guys felt like the worst people in the world and Zhengting would feel guilty for making them feel bad, but they deserved it because they made Quanzhe unhappy— And Quanzhe deserved the world, no lies just facts.

Chengcheng even offered the ice-cream willingly to Quanzhe, without Zhengting making him, much to everyone’s shock. Zhengting just smiled proudly at the boy and patted his head, to which Chengcheng beamed just as proudly.

They watched some new horror movie on Netflix because it was Quanzhe’s choice and even though half of the group were too much of wussies to watch it without screaming they soldiered on through it because it was for Quanzhe. It was the least they could do.

They were all very sweet about it. And shared their own bad experiences and bad days too. Zeren even had a whole speech about how Mickey Mouse was a mess to deal with because of how popular he was, and the three fur characters realized that they had it just as hard but in different ways. The face characters, on the other hand, had to deal with their own set of predicaments, things like weird people flirting with them or trying to feel them up and having to improvise on the spot for some of the strangest questions kids and adults alike have asked them.

Later that night, they decided that they would go all together to talk to Zhangjing the next day. Whatever the outcome would be they would do it together.

That night Quanzhe slept in the middle of Zhengting and Xinchun and he felt happy and calm, and for the first time in a while he thought that maybe the next day wouldn’t be so bad.

 

   

 

Zhangjing looked unimpressed at the line of boys in front of him.

Why did they always have to stand as if he were an army sergeant?

“What do you mean you want me to give Quanzhe another job? What’s wrong with Gelatoni?”

“Gelatoni is great but Quanzhe isn’t feeling him.” Chengcheng said offhandedly.

Zhengting sighed heavily.

“Quanzhe is not feeling happy with his job as Gelatoni and we were wondering if you could maybe give him something that would work better with him, you know, out of the cat suit? Literally.” Zhengting asked sheepishly. He could feel Quanzhe hide a little behind him when Zhangjing turned to look at the younger boy inquiringly.

“Is that true Quanzhe” Zhangjing asked him directly.

Zhengting looked back at the boy and smiled encouragingly. Quanzhe looked unsure but nodded slightly and took a step forward.

“Yes, Mr. Zhangjing.” Quanzhe whispered quietly. Zhengting controlled his urges and did definitely not coo out loud. He was strong with good control over his reactions…

The others weren’t as good.

“Aww.” They all cooed, even Zhangjing (!!!).

Zhengting scoffed. Amateurs. They could never live the life of a mute fur character.

“I wasn’t aware you disliked the job so much Quanzhe.” Zhangjing admitted thoughtfully. “I can try to see if I can integrate you into other places of the park, but I can’t promise you anything.”

Zhengting caught Zeren’s eyes, both squinted their eyes suspiciously before turning to look at Zhangjing, judging him.

“What?” Zhangjing defended himself. “I'm not the boss here, while I am the one who controls and organizes you guys that doesn't mean I can just say what you can or can't work as.”

Xinchun sniffed disgruntled. Justin shook his head in disbelief.

“I thought you were different, Zhangjing.” Chengcheng hissed in betrayal. Zhangjing looked outraged.

“That’s Yixing’s job!” He exclaimed. “If you want to ask him directly, by all means, be my guest.”

“Fine!” Zeren said loudly, “Can we speak to Yixing?”

“Oh, wait really?” Zhangjing looked taken aback. “You want to ask Yixing directly?”

They all nodded, Quanzhe looked nervous as all his friends put their war faces on.

“Wow okay, I’ll call him then, see if he’s free, right now.” Zhangjing mumbled surprised.

 

   

 

He was.

“So, you want me to give Mr. Lee here another job?” Yixing said seriously, eyes blank. “I assigned each role to each of you specifically. Are you doubting my decisions?”

Yixing was scary when he wasn’t laughing at them or looking dazed.

There was a brief moment of silence where all seven of them gave each other panicked looks before Wenjun spoke up.

“Yes?” Wenjun said softly, eyes shifty as he looked around the room. “I mean no! We’re not doubting your decision, Sir, but we  _would_ like Quanzhe here to work as something else.”

“And why would I do that?” Yixing raised his eyebrows unimpressed.

“Promoting employee happiness?” Xinchun offered, halfheartedly, shrinking when Yixing turned to look at him directly.

“Is that so… and if I refuse?” Yixing asked nonchalantly.

“Then we will quit.” Justin admitted with a shrug. The epitome of casualness, no care in sight.

There was a beat of silence where everyone looked at the youngest boy in awe, even Zhangjing looked impressed.

“All of you?” Yixing asked surprised.

They all nodded, Quanzhe looked like he was going to cry.

“So, if I don’t get your little friend a better offer all seven of you will quit?” Yixing asked again.

“Yes.” Zhengting said unfaltering, holding Quanzhe’s trembling hand tightly.

Yixing looked at them for a moment, the minutes going by slowly which only made the group tense up even more, before simply nodding curtly once and turning to Zhangjing.

“Get the kid the job he wants.” He said simply with a small shrug.

Everyone’s eyes went wide in shock— Zhangjing’s the most out of everyone.

“What? Really?” Yixing nodded again. “O-okay, will do.”

“Thank you, sir.” Zhengting exclaimed happily, he could burst with the relief he felt.

“Thank you, Mr. Zhang!” Quanzhe blubbered.

“It worked? It fucking worked?” Zeren asked around amazed.

“I thought we were going to get fired.” Wenjun cried out. He was dabbing his forehead with a little handkerchief he got from god knows where.

“No, dude, we were going to quit.” Justin corrected him unashamed.

“Fuck I almost shitted my pants.” Chengcheng let out a big sigh of relief.

“Chengcheng!” Xinchun yelled embarrassed, looking nervously over to where Yixing was.

“I’m sorry, I almost  _shat_ my pants.” Chengcheng corrected himself with a teasing grin.

“You’re impossible.” Xinchun snorted.

“Those were the most stressful minutes of my life.” Wenjun continued, ignoring the others.

“Quanzhe, I don’t care what the hell you end up working as, but you have to give us free things for life.” Justin said matter of factly.

“Or ‘til the end of the summer.” Xinchun piped in.

Yixing tried to look serious for longer but he cracked and laughed at them good-naturedly, like he always did.

Zhangjing rolled his eyes.

“You totally kept them because they make you laugh.” He said accusingly to his boss.

“Not just that.” Yixing snorted to himself. “Loyalty is one of the best qualities anyone can have, if they learn to apply that to the workplace they will only continue to improve.” He added.

Zhangjing nodded understandingly.

“Also, their friendship is heartwarming.” Yixing smiled softly. “They remind me of some people I know… some guys I miss.” His smile turned fond, reminiscing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Zhengkun interactions this chapter but we got plenty of Yuehua friendship moments. I realized as I was updating the last two chapters that I had rarely shown Quanzhe and he was supoosedly going to be around Zhengting the most so then I came up with this. My poor, poor baby hamster. I miss his cheeks.
> 
> Btw I'm pretty sure that if they tried to pull off that thing at the end in an actual job, all seven would be fired the second they said it. But since it’s Yixing and he is the king of China he gets to decide anything, and his word is law.
> 
> Sidenote: when will exo ot9 return from war? T-T


	7. who I am inside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! After almost an entire month omg...  
> This chapter is way longer than the others and that is because it was meant to be two but I never found the right place to cut it off and then I thought I kept ya'll waiting enough and you deserve this long update.  
> So without further ado, enjoy! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

When Zhengting liked someone he always got shy, he never had it in him to talk to them or hang out with them alone without constantly overthinking everything, and he hated that, he wanted to be in love with someone where it felt as easy as breathing.

He remembered that one time, years ago, when he used to have a crush on Wenjun… it was _horrible_. Suddenly he couldn’t even look at his friend because he became a stuttering mess. It was also so out of the blue, one second, Wenjun was just one of his best friends and the next he was his crush. Nobody ever knew about it, because it was fucking embarrassing, but he was sure that Justin suspected it. After a while, it got better, and he could suddenly talk to Wenjun again, thank _god_ , and his crush passed onto the next handsome boy he saw around.

But still, it had _terrified_ him. It had been so easy to stop talking to Wenjun, to stop spending time alone with him, all because of how aware Zhengting was of himself when in the taller boy’s presence. He hated how easily he allowed himself to become awkward with his friend.

However, things were different with Xukun.

With Xukun he wanted to talk to him and look at him even when he became a mess. And it wasn’t even because he was so handsome—though Zhengting talked about that a lot—because if Zhengting only liked Xukun for his face, nothing would have stopped him from liking all the other handsome guys in the park, like Yanchen, or Ziyi or _Yanjun,_ to name a few.

He wanted Xukun to also like him the way Zhengting liked him.

Being inside Duffy let him have the amazing ability of being able to speak with the boy he liked without feeling embarrassed of everything he was and said —or at least not as embarrassed as he would be outside of the costume— so it was understandable that his biggest fear was seeing Xukun face-to-face, with no Duffy in between, and being unable to speak as easily as he did before. Of Xukun not liking what he saw.

And that was what he was afraid of.

Not everything else he told the guys, but that things were going to change, unavoidably.

And they did.

 

 

Quanzhe got assigned to be part of the sunshine squad alongside Yanchen and Nongnong, which everyone thought was accurate and that it should have been the first offer for the little blonde. He settled perfectly in his new role, he was on the shyer side compared the other two, but his cute face made the visitors swoon so Zhangjing was satisfied. 

Zhengting made an effort to pay more attention to his little group of friends. He wasn’t comfortable with the fact that he missed all of the Quanzhe Situation signs for weeks, so he tried to see if any other of his boys were having problems too.

Justin was having a blast as Peter Pan, there was no way around it, and even if he were having problems, Zhengting knew that he would be the first person Justin would go to so he was relieved there. And apart from the few complains Zeren gave during their sleepover he assured Zhengting that he was fine and that he did enjoy his job despite the little drawbacks it had (“The same type of drawbacks as any other job.” Zeren had rolled his eyes good-naturedly).

Xinchun felt fine with his job, even told Zhengting that he didn’t do much since the Lost Boys weren’t even in the spotlight, the most work he had was when he had to follow Justin around the park, and even then, he would spend it playing around with the children, so it was fun.

The two princes, on the other hand, whined about their jobs for so long that Zhengting didn’t even care about their troubles by the end of it — ‘ _So_ boo-hoo _you have all the attention and people loved taking pictures with you and your cheeks hurt from smiling so much and you have to constantly sign things so your hands end up cramping, cry me a fucking river._ ’ Zhengting would like to see either princes a day as a fur character… on the other hand, Wenjun would probably not fit in any of them apart from Goofy and Chengcheng would be an even bigger walking disaster than Zhengting, so maybe not.

 

 

They had a routine. All seven of them did. It started months ago once one of them finally got their driver’s license (AKA Wenjun), and since then it became their thing.

Every morning Wenjun would go and pick each of them up at their houses and from there they would go to their job together. Quality morning time that became even more mandatory after the whole Quanzhe fiasco.

Zhengting had to give it to Wenjun, really, the poor boy had to wake up earlier then he needed to, just so he could go around the city picking up his friends one by one and still arrive on time. It was actually really nice of him, Zhengting thought fondly, because he sure as hell would never sacrifice his beauty sleep for any of his hell spawns, no matter how much he loved them.

But here he was this morning: dying, a mess, and still half asleep. He literally woke up and threw on the first clean pair of shorts he found and a hoodie, and didn’t even brush his hair, something unheard of regarding Zhu Zhengting. But he didn’t really care much because this was _his_ week— and he had to wake up earlier than usual, so he could make everyone breakfast.

It was one of their “rules”. Every week, somebody (excluding Wenjun, the poor driver) was in charge of bringing everyone else breakfast. Normally, Zhengting would take the easy way out, just like the rest did especially Justin and Chengcheng, and buy everyone a breakfast burrito or something at McDonalds. But this time he felt especially nice (and guilty) so he decided to up his game and make something tasty and homemade.

He went all out — strawberry smoothies (for the babies), freshly squeezed orange juice (for Xinchun and Zeren), and coffee kept warm in thermos (for the adults who had to wake up waay earlier for their kids); he also made blueberry pancakes and egg steamed buns, as well as sliced fresh fruit (cause health), and a few other snacks here and there. All in all, he felt satisfied with his little menu, and when Wenjun finally pulled up at his house and Zhengting made his way out with the huge basket of food, the sleepy cheers the rest gave made his efforts worthwhile.

“I fucking love you, you are the best, everyone else can go die for all I care.” Xinchun said while taking his juice and stuffing a bun in his mouth.

“I’m dying!” Justin groaned from the backseat, eyes closed, still half-asleep, and he only spread his arms towards Zhengting, who rolled his eyes before giving the youngest boy his food. “I love youuu.”

“Steamed buns!” Quanzhe gushed happily, taking two, quickly, before hiding in the corner of the backseat.

Zhengting laughed. “Good morning to you guys too.”

“I missed your cooking!” Chengcheng cried around a mouthful of pancakes.

Zhengting let the ravenous little beasts fight their way through the breakfast basket and slid into the front seat, next to a tired Wenjun. Zhengting smiled at the younger boy and passed him a coffee thermos and a bun with a small pat on his arm.

“You _are_ the best.” Wenjun sighed sipping his coffee happily.

“I know.” Zhengting shrugged nonchalantly before beaming.

He turned on the radio and they began their journey to Disney, as per usual.

Nobody really talked during the morning ride— none of them were morning people, thank the lord—, they literally hated everyone during the mornings which was a cause for many fights among them when they got on each other’s nerves. But lately they realized that no talking meant no fighting, so everybody ate quietly and dozed off in the meantime. Even Chengcheng who wasn’t really known for shutting up would be quiet, munching on something while listening to music on his phone.

It was truly the only relatively peaceful part of their day.

Then they arrived at Disney.

 

 

During the last couple of weeks, Zhengting had started dreading going to work, kinda like Quanzhe but it was less because he was having a hard time at work and more because of how much of a coward he was.

This day was no different.

They each shuffled out of the car, the other six hugging Zhengting for the food which made him forget his nerves rather quickly. They made their way across the park towards the dressing rooms, and everything was going fine until Quanzhe opened the door and Zhengting saw _him_.

“What is he doing here?!” He whispered furiously, grabbing Zeren’ arm tightly.

Zeren looked at him weirdly as the rest passed by, and shrugged off Zhengting’s hand before looking inside too. “Who… oh shit.”

“What parallel world did I just step into? Why is Xukun early? And already dressed up?!” Chengcheng asked loudly, staying behind with them.

“Lower your voice!” Zhengting snapped before shutting his mouth with a click when Xukun turned in their general direction.

“Hide me!” He whispered the younger boy and tried to hide under Chengcheng’s shirt.

“What are you talking about? This is your chance!” Chengcheng said in excitement, giggling when Zhengting accidentally tickled him while wiggling under his clothes.

“Yeah, you’re dressed okay-ish and you look fine-ish and you’re still not sweaty and a mess like you will definitely be in a few hours.” Justin said offhandedly. Zhengting gasped.

“Okay first off… okay-ish? Fine-ish!? I’m always okay and I’m always fine! “ Zhengting cried.

“You’re basically in glorified pyjamas.” Chengcheng pointed out.

Zhengting let out a pitiful whimper. “Don’t remind me…”

“I told you to stop being lazy and dress nicely for work every once in a while.” Justin huffed.

“Why would I dress nicely if I stay in a fur costume all day?” Zhengting said matter of factly.

“He has a point.” Zeren agreed. But then he had no right to say anything because he too was practically in his pyjamas.

“Maybe if you didn’t blow me off all the time you wouldn’t have to go through these stupid situations!” Justin exploded.

“You got owned!” Chengcheng chortled like the nerd he was, making no sense as per usual.

“Is this how you thank me for making you breakfast?” Zhengting pouted.

“We love you.” Chengcheng added sweetly.

“Is this really what you should be worrying about?” Zeren asked dryly.

“I can’t just go in and act like nothing’s going on.”

“Um, yeah you can?” Justin deadpanned.

“Of course not! I’m not mentally or emotionally prepared for this! I can’t just go in there and say _hi_ to him… to his _face_!” Zhengting was this close to hyperventilating.

“Yes, you literally can do just exactly that!” Chengcheng groaned.

“ _I’m_ not mentally or emotionally prepared to have this conversation again.” Justin muttered rubbing his temples.

“Shut up, he’ll hear you!” Zhengting yelled at them.

“Then walk in there before I drag you in!” Justin snapped back, glaring at the older boy.

“No!”

“For fuck's sake really?”

“Chengcheng, please, please, help me out.” Zhengting turned to the other boy and begged.

“Why should I? Maybe this way you’ll finally shut up and end this looong c-drama.” Chengcheng rolled his eyes.

“Chengcheng! Come on! You owe me!” Zhengting cried while clinging on to Chengcheng’s arm.

“What? For what?!” Chengcheng exclaimed whilst trying to get away from Zhengting’s tight grip.

“Come on Cheng,” Zeren intervened. “Don’t be an asshole, he looks genuinely distressed.”

Chengcheng looked down at Zhengting, who looked up at him with puppy eyes and a frown.

“I think I’m going to throw up.” Zhengting mumbled against Chengcheng’s shoulder.

Chengcheng groaned. “Oh, come _on_ , don’t puke on me.” He said.

“Then help me!” Zhengting moaned pitifully.

“How!? And why?” Chengcheng sniffed.

“I don’t know! Just, go in there and distract Xukun —and I’ll buy you… something.” Zhengting said quickly.

Chengcheng perked up, suddenly interested. “… What thing?”

“Oh, I don’t know, ice-cream?” Zhengting tried.

“Just bought some.” Chengcheng looked unimpressed.

“Chips?” Zhengting asked again desperately.

“Hmm…” Chengcheng looked away. Justin was glaring at them.

“I don’t want to be part of your stupid plan, I’m going inside.” Justin said, irritated, and walked in.

Chengcheng and Zhengting look at the door in betrayal. Zeren had stayed behind, enjoying the mayhem.

“What do you want? I’ll buy you whatever food you want?” Zhengting sighed.

“I’m vaguely offended that you think you can buy me with just food...” Chengcheng sniffed haughtily. The other two look at him incredulously. “–Which you _can_ but that’s not the point.”

“Anything specific you want?” Zhengting asked.

“I want you to buy me hotpot.” Chengcheng said firmly.

“Deal.” Zhengting agreed easily.

“Just you and I? Like when you went out with Justin?” Chengcheng asked seriously.

Zhengting smiled at his childishness.

“Sure.” He agreed again.

“Okay!” Chengcheng smiled, easily satisfied, but then he frowned. “But wait we can’t leave Justin out… I’ll feel bad.”

“Fine, we’ll invite Justin.”

“But Quanzhe would also feel bad and we still have to fill those cheeks again.” He added thoughtfully.

“Okay you, me, Justin, and Quanzhe.” Zhengting smiled.

“But Zeren…” Chengcheng said pointing to said boy next to them who looked amused. “If all of us are going then Xinchun and Wenjun can’t not go!”

“Fine! Then we’ll all go eat hotpot.” Zhengting sighed exasperatedly.

“Yeah!” Chengcheng said excited once more. “Okay fine I’ll go in there, but your time is limited ‘kay”

“I love you!” Zhengting exclaimed happily.

“I know, I know.” Chengcheng puffed up proudly. Then he ran into the room.

“…”

Zeren looked at Zhengting with a smirk.

“He does know that you would have taken all of us to eat hotpot anyways, right?” He asked Zhengting with an eye roll.

“Hush now, I need to run in on his cue.” Zhengting ignored him with a small wave of his hand.

 

 

“Xukun! My man!” Chengcheng yelled the minute he was close to Xukun, making the poor boy jump with his loudness. “Why are you here and already dressed?! Is there a meeting I’m missing?! I’m a prince too!” Chengcheng literally hollered, walking around Xukun in circles.

Xukun looked at him, startled.

“I– No I just decided to arrive earlier than normal today.” Xukun smiled awkwardly.

Justin looked at their exchange with an unreadable expression.

“Earlier than normal? This is like half a day earlier than normal for you.” Chengcheng laughed loudly. He was being way louder than normal… maybe Chengcheng had a lot of energy in the mornings.

Xukun frowned. “I don’t get here so late.” He said lamely.

“Yes, you do.” Justin added in.

“Now you’re just ganging up on me.” Xukun pouted.

Chengcheng and Justin just smirked at each other. Then started bombarding Xukun with the most random topics he had ever heard. And every time Xukun turned his head even a little they would jump up—honestly freaking him out.

All of the sudden, they just stopped, smiling eerily at him (still freaking him out, to be honest) but Xukun finally managed to look around, noticing that most of their little group had arrived, which meant one thing...

“Where’s Zhengting?” he asked inconspicuously.

Justin narrowed his eyes at him.

“Right here!” A voice behind him squeaked. 

Xukun brightened up and turned so quickly he almost bumped into… Duffy?

Xukun’s face fell and Zhengting felt bad for the disappointment in the younger’s eyes but he was beyond relieved to have made it into his suit unnoticed.

“How did you get here so quickly? When did you even arrive?” Xukun asked crestfallen.

“A while ago.” Zhengting shrugged sheepishly. “Got to be ready early, right?”

“Yeah…” Xukun smiled weakly.

Chengcheng and Justin took that moment to slip away. Chengcheng smiled softly at the younger boy. “I thought you weren’t going to help?”

“Shut up.” Justin mumbled turning his face away from him.

Chengcheng laughed and ruffled Justin’s hair, causing said boy to cry out in annoyance. “Stop that!”

Wenjun looked at them from across the room with an amused smile before he noticed that Zhengting’s back zipper was not fully zipped up, so he made his way to said boy.

(Wenjun was standing awfully close to the little bear, in Xukun’s opinion, and he didn’t appreciate that).

Wenjun just smiled innocently as he raised his hand to Zhengting’s back, casually zipping his suit up. Zhengting jumped when he felt a hand on his back, but when he realized it was just Wenjun and noticed what he was doing, he thanked Wenjun a thousand times in his head.

Xukun didn’t see all that so he was just staring suspiciously at Wenjun’s hand which was still on Zhengting’s back.

“Shouldn’t you change?” Xukun asked politely.

Wenjun raised his eyebrows at the calm, cold look the younger boy gave him. In all honesty, the obvious jealousy in the boy’s voice amused him immensely, even more than watching the two dorks stumble through their relationship.

“I’m good.” Wenjun smiled at him. “It’s still really early.” 

“But dressing up as a prince takes much more time than dressing as a fur character.” Xukun insisted.

“I’m sure you’re not that aware as you’re never this early but most of the time we stay undressed a while before the park opens.” Wenjun said with a shrug.

Xukun clenched his jaw and glared a little.

Zhengting was very confused.

And Quanzhe — who was sitting a little way apart from them— was turning his head quickly to look at everyone the moment they spoke while sipping his smoothie. He was thoroughly enjoying the drama.

“Then why is Zhengting already dressed?” Xukun asked curiously, trying to dig out the information while he could.

Zhengting froze up and this time he started cursing Wenjun in his head.

Wenjun’s own smile froze, hand slipping from Zhengting’s back ( _finally_ , Xukun thought bitterly).

“He likes to get in his Duffy mode early on. His own ritual.” Wenjun bluffed.

Zhengting gave him a ‘what the fuck’ look from inside Duffy’s head that Wenjun still felt.

Xukun also looked unimpressed but before he could comment on that, Zhangjing appeared in his peripheral vision.

“I still think you should dress up soon, Wenjun!” Xukun beamed brightly, practically yelling the sentence. Wenjun looked confused for a moment before he heard Zhangjing yell at him from across the room.

“Yeah Wenjun! Why are you not in the process of becoming Prince Phillip?” Zhangjing was smiling but a chill still went down Wenjun’s back at the tone he was giving him.

“Right… maybe I should start early today.” He mumbled before stepping away.

Leaving Zhengting to his own doom.

He barely noticed that during the whole Wenjun-Xukun exchange Chengcheng had disappeared to prepare himself and so had Justin. 

‘ _Why do most of my friends have to be face characters’_ , Zhengting cried internally. The only two who could help him were literally sitting a few feet away from him eating their breakfast buns while watching his suffering in amusement.

He could never curse at Quanzhe, so… fuck Zeren

Xukun perked up considerably once Wenjun was gone and smiled softly at Zhengting.

“You sure are fast.” He said sadly. “I wanted to see if I could talk to you before you got into Duffy.”

Zhengting felt his usual doses of guilt pool in his gut at making Xukun sad but the second half of his sentence made his nerves spike even more.

“What why?” Zhengting laughed nervously. “Duffy is a way better sight than me in the mornings.”

Xukun looked at him disheartened but couldn’t help the fond tilt at the edges of his mouth.

“I really doubt that.”

 

 

“I'm dying!” Zhengting screamed from inside Duffy’s head.

He was currently on one of his many breaks in the break room alongside Xinchun, Zeren, and Chengcheng. The other three were spread across the room just lying there while watching Netflix. It was a baking show, but all their cakes looked terrible, the goal versus expectations format was hilarious though.

“Maybe if you took off the head every few hours instead of keeping it on all day— in this _heat_ —you wouldn’t be slowly roasting yourself.” Xinchun told Zhengting from his place on the sofa.

“I can't do that! You know I can't.” Zhengting cried loudly.

Chengcheng just groaned something about how dramatic he was but Zhengting was too distressed to care.

“Xukun isn't even here!” Chengcheng yelled annoyed.

“But he could be!” Zhengting yelled back.

“But he's not.” Chengcheng said, rolling his eyes.

“But he _could_.” Zhengting stressed the last word.

“Zhengting.” Chengcheng groaned again. “You’re impossible.”

And wasn’t that ironic? Chengcheng of all people calling someone else impossible.

“There’s literally only us in the room right now.” Zeren told Zhengting calmly.

“I can’t risk it.” Zhengting exclaimed. Zeren smiled worriedly at the older boy.

“But aren’t you hot right now? Even with the AC on.” Xinchun asked worriedly as he looked at Zhengting’s bear costume.

“It’s fine!” Zhengting chirped very unconvincingly.

Xinchun stared at him for a while and Zhengting broke rather quickly. It was a pattern among their group; if asked directly they could never lie believingly.

“You don’t get it, Xinchun! He always appears right when I do something stupid.” He cried at the younger boy, paws gripping the boy’s arm.

“How is showing your face stupid?” Zeren asked in confusion.

“It just is.” Zhengting replied.

“He’s not wrong.” Chengcheng added, nodding his head in agreement.

“Chengcheng!” Zeren chided him, but Xinchun could see the amused smile Zeren tried to hide from Zhengting.

“What?” Chengcheng laughed. “If Xukun saw his face then there would be a face to match with all the stupid.”

“Exactly.” Zhengting agreed, voice mournful before the full meaning of Chengcheng’s sentence sunk in. “Hey!”

“Surviving the summer is not something stupid, Zhengting,” Xinchun piped in before Zhengting could be distracted. “Maybe you should try to take more breaks or something — if you won’t take the head off. Don’t neglect yourself because you’re embarrassed.”

It was difficult to talk seriously when he was looking directly into a bear’s eyes, despite knowing that Zhengting’s eyes were probably in the mouth area of the bear and not actually the eyes, but Xinchun could understand Zhengting’s body language enough to know that the boy had deflated, properly chastened.

“You know you can,” Zeren smiled, patting the sad bear on the back. “Zhangjing constantly tells us to take small breaks every hour or so, so we don't overheat.”

“But...” Zhengting tried to argue, voice small.

“But nothing.” Zeren glared. “I know how hot it can get in there, so I don't want to hear that you fainted because you overheated.”

“Okay.”

They all smiled at him, basically hearing the pout in his voice.

 

 

"I can't believe you fainted because you overheated.” Chengcheng said shaking his head.

So... he had tried, he really had. But somehow, he ended up bumping into Xukun everywhere. Which made it impossible for Zhengting to take breaks without the other boy taking them with him, which meant that Zhengting couldn’t take his head off, which meant he spent hours dying inside Duffy.

It was the weirdest thing. Xukun did have a knack for somehow being able to find Zhengting everywhere — which was a good skill to have when Zhengting need saving from evil children and helping him up from the ground, but not so much when he wanted to hide from him.

First in the gift store, then in the food bar, on his way to the break room, even in the bathroom — he found Xukun everywhere.

Zhengting almost felt like Xukun was doing it on purpose, but that would mean Xukun wanted to see Zhengting and was actively looking for him which he didn't know what to feel about that.

As a result of his Xukun-filled day, he kept himself completely covered throughout the day, his suit disgustingly moist and itchy and his body completely soaked in sweat and misery.

He had lasted long enough —and he applauded himself for lasting as long as he did, really — but around three in the afternoon, his head started hurting more and more, and he felt very tired. He was pretty sure he was dehydrated or something —he had never been dehydrated before, but he was sure it felt something like that.

 

 

Zhengting was far from the break room or any room actually, because he was dumb and because he got distracted over how good Xukun looked over by the fountain. 

But suddenly he didn’t feel so good and he tried to go somewhere else — anywhere that didn’t have kids he could traumatize by making them watch a Disney character fucking _die_ in the middle of the day.

But of course — because his luck was utter shit— he bumped into Xukun, _again_.

Trying to sidestep the other boy was like trying to climb over a fucking wall while wearing his monstrosity of a costume: impossible and tiring and _sexy_. Or something like that… wait, what was he talking about again? Why was he talking to himself in his head? Zhengting started to get worried once he realized just how dazed he was.

"Hey! Wow, what a coincidence. What are the odds that we would meet here?" Xukun said happily.

"Kun... I literally work here, I come here every day at the same hour. You know that. Everyone knows that." Zhengting deadpanned.

"Say whaaat?" Xukun drawled out in fake surprise.

Normally Zhengting had way more patience, especially with Xukun, but he was tired, sweaty, and his head was killing him, so he was not in the mood for whatever the other boy was doing.

“Can you let me pass, please?” Zhengting asked. “I don’t feel very well.”

Xukun’s entire form changed, from playfulness to complete seriousness in a matter of seconds. Zhengting felt his heart skip a beat over how worried the other boy looked.

“Are you okay? Did something happen? Was it another kid? Where did they hit you? Let me check.” Xukun panicked, going to grab Zhengting for an inspection, apparently.

“No, Kun,” Zhengting stepped back tiredly. “Nobody hit me I just feel tired and really hot.”

“It’s because you haven’t cooled off well.” Xukun chastised him words clipped. “You have to take off the head now, you could get a heat stroke or something.”

Xukun’s hands went up to grab his head and Zhengting panicked, slapping his hands away.

“You can’t just take Duffy’s head off in front of the kids.” Zhengting quickly explained when he saw Xukun’s hurt expression. Xukun seemed to understand but he still seemed sad.

“Let’s go somewhere else then.”

 

 

The coolest thing about working at Disney was getting to see all the secrets and behind the scenes things.

Like the utilidors.

Utility corridors that the staff used to move around the park secretly. How fucking cool was that — secret underground tunnels that spread all across the park that only the workers knew about. They were made so that guests wouldn’t see all the shebang that went on behind the scenes, and especially, it helped when a character had to go from one part of the park to another without rising to the attention of the visitors.

They were used mainly, because fur or face characters weren’t allowed to run, at least not if it wasn’t an obvious staged run. But also, because crossovers were not allowed between worlds— or at least the ones that did not make sense. The whole not mixing universes made sense actually, because how weird would it be for kids to find Cinderella walking through Tomorrowland in the middle of space surrounded by Star Wars characters and Buzz Lightyear?

In perspective, Zhengting was glad that all of his friends managed to get sorted in the same section or around the same section of the park, otherwise they wouldn’t see each other as often. No matter how cool it would have been if Wenjun had snatched a Chewbacca role.

Despite everything, Zhengting hadn’t been one of the most avid users of the utilidors, since Duffy roamed around freely without a care throughout most of the park, Zeren on the other hand as Mickey was more used to that underground section of the park.

Even when Zhengting was sneaking around and hiding from people (AKA Xukun) he rarely thought about using the underground corridors.

So of course, the only time he decided to use it—when his head was killing him and with Xukun no less— the fucking corridor shut down.

Literally, shut down.

The lights went out and the whole thing went pitch black in a second, no emergency lights, no nothing. It was the creepiest thing Zhengting had to go through with and of course he would die inside a bear suit next to a literal Disney prince.

He was going to die.

“We’re not going to die, Zhengting.” Xukun whispered in the darkness.

Zhengting hadn’t even noticed he was thinking out loud in the midst of his panic.

He laughed nervously, “Right…”

“It’s just a system fail, we should just wait it out unless we want to get lost or we want to trip over something.” Xukun said simply, reaching out towards the space he last saw Zhengting and touched his shoulder.

Zhengting startled though logically he knew it was Xukun, but it still scared him.

“Easy there.” Xukun laughed. He then pulled Zhengting closer to the wall and leaned against it. Zhengting let himself be led by the other boy and slowly slid down to sit on the floor with a sigh.

“Just my luck.” He mumbled.

“Not a good day for you?” Xukun asked quietly.

Zhengting felt bad because he knew what the younger boy was thinking but he couldn’t even bring himself to say anything to rebuff that.

“You should take the head off.” Xukun said suddenly.

Zhengting felt as if his eyes were going to pop off from his head.

“What!?”

“You’re gonna fry yourself inside that while we wait down here.”

“No I’m not.”

“We can't even see what’s in front of us Zhengting, what difference will it make now if you have your head on or not?”

“I… “

“I promise I won’t look.” Xukun teased lightly.

“Even if the lights turn on?”

Zhengting asked nervously.

Xukun sighed. “Even then.” He promised.

“Okay.” Zhengting whispered.

He never felt as naked as he did without his Duffy head on in Xukun’s presence, despite the darkness.

The stayed quiet for a moment.

“Why do you dislike taking your mask off in front of me?”

Zhengting did not want to have this conversation _ever_. Especially now when he was just a second away from passing out.

He panicked internally for a while but he knew he had to say something once the silence stretched out for too long.

“It’s not that I disliked it! It’s just that I’m not ready to… yet.” Zhengting sighed in defeat. He was so stupid. Even his excuses sounded stupid.

Xukun didn’t say anything for a while and Zhengting wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. When did their interactions become 80% awkward silences and 20% pining?

“Will you ever?” Xukun asked finally.

That took Zhengting off guard. It felt like all of his conversations were like that, he never knew what Xukun would say next. He could never really read the boy correctly. It was equal parts exhilarating as it was exasperating.

“Will I ever what?” Zhengting asked dumbly. _Dazed, he was dazed, he was probably dying,_ Zhengting thought. He was probably also delusional. He wasn’t even having this conversation with Xukun. It was all in his head.

“Take you mask off?” Xukun asked uncertainly. Nope, he _was_ actually having this conversation.

“Yeah…” Zhengting admitted quietly. Tired, so tired, but never believing it more than he did at that moment. “I will.” He has too, it wouldn’t be fair otherwise.

Xukun smiled slightly in the darkness. “Okay.” He nodded. “That’s okay.”

And in that exact moment, the lights decided to come back.

Zhengting let out a squeak while throwing his hands in front of his face but it didn’t matter, because Xukun— just as promised— had closed his eyes the second the lights turned on and turned away.

Even though the slight glimpse he caught of Zhengting wasn’t enough, he didn’t dare to look more even when he listened to the other boy’s costume rustle as he straightened himself, even when he was right there, face in full view.

“Okay, I’m ready.” Zhengting sighed tiredly, heart full of remorse and appreciation for the boy. How kind of Xukun to follow his stupid wishes out of the goodness of his heart. How dumb of Zhengting to try to prolong this stupid revelation.

“Let’s go then.” Xukun smiled taking Zhengting fur covered wrist and pulled him down the corridor. “Before Zhangjing freaks out about us disappearing from our posts with no word.”

“Yeah,” Zhengting whispered weakly. “Let’s hurry.”

And Zhengting had tried to follow him, he had, but he was so dizzy, and so tired — exhausted not only physically but from the half-hearted conversation they just had— he could see his feet and Xukun’s legs walking in front of him through Duffy’s mouth— he didn’t even know how many steps he had taken before his vision started going blurry again and that was the moment Zhengting knew he had fucked up.

The last thing he thought as everything went black, was that Zeren was going to kill him.

 

 

He woke up half an hour later in the medical wing, Duffy’s suit across the room and Xukun placing cool wet towels on his forehead and arms.

Zhengting froze— maybe he could act like he was dead, so he didn’t have to confront Xukun’s beautiful face— he heard the younger turn to get something, he opened his eyes slightly to take a peak, and couldn’t help but groan once the light reminded him that his head hurt like hell.

So much for acting dead.

Xukun turned to look at him quickly, eyebrows furrowed in concern and he…he looked _great_.

Seeing him up close through Duffy’s mouth and seeing him up close with nothing obstructing his view truly was an experience. He didn’t know Xukun could look even better than Zhengting already thought he did.

Just his fucking luck.

“Zhengting?! You’re awake? How do you feel?” He asked the older boy hurriedly, tone tight with concern.

“My head hurts and I’m thirsty.” Zhengting mumbled, voice hoarse.

Xukun quickly went and grabbed a bottle of water for Zhengting, helping him sit up before passing him the bottle so he could take a few sips.

“Thanks.” Zhengting said shyly after he was done, looking down at his lap.

Xukun smiled softly, moving some of Zhengting’s stray hairs out of his face.

Zhengting suddenly became very aware of what a hot mess he looked like. He was dressed down to his shorts and a t-shirt, hair slicked back from his face, face flushed, probably smelled disgusting. But Xukun was staring at him with such a fond look that Zhengting couldn’t help but reciprocate.

“I was so worried.” Xukun admitted after a while. “One minute we were walking and then next thing I know you are suddenly falling on me and wouldn’t answer me.”

Zhengting frowned.

“I had to take your head off, so you could breathe and then I carried you here.”

Zhengting was so embarrassed, so, so, _so_ embarrassed.

“Luckily, we were already in the utilidors and relatively close to some break rooms and the first aids station.” Xukun offered awkwardly.

“And _you_ carried me all the way here?” Zhengting asked incredulously. Not trying to be rude or mean but Zhengting wasn’t especially skinny and Xukun definitely didn’t look like he could carry all Zhengting plus Duffy.

Xukun avoided his eyes briefly before sighing.

“Fine… Yanchen happened to pass by and helped me... I just carried Duffy’s head over here.” Xukun mumbled annoyed. He had wanted to seem like an actual Prince Charming but Yanchen was stronger and Xukun had been panicking.

Zhengting laughed at that and Xukun was enamored. Zhengting looked very pretty when he laughed, he laughed with his whole body. It was nice to finally be able to see the smile that matched that laugh.

“Why didn’t you take a break if you were feeling bad?” Xukun inquired. “Zhangjing would have let you go home if you weren’t handling the heat well.”

“I know…” Zhengting whispered. “I didn’t think it was that bad at first.”

“You almost got a heat stroke, Zhengting.” Xukun scolded him. “We were this close to taking you to the hospital, but the nurse said that you just needed to cool off so that’s what I was doing.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Zhengting looked so sad and sorry that Xukun couldn’t stay angry for too long. He never could, even when all he could see was a bear face, even less now that he was face to face with Zhengting’s actual face.

“Just don’t ever do that again.” Xukun sighed.

“I promise.” Zhengting said, crossing his heart.

“I let you off the hook quickly because you’re cute,” Xukun told him seriously. Zhengting’s flushed face grew hotter. “But once your friends get here I don’t think they’ll let you off as easily.”

Dread filled Zhengting instantly.

“You told the guys?” He whispered betrayed.

“Not me.” Xukun shrugged. “Yanchen.”

“ _Yanchen_.” Zhengting whispered furiously, even more betrayed.

Xukun smiled in amusement before offering Zhengting some more water.

They both knew there was a big elephant in the room that needed to be addressed — in this case, the elephant was the bear costume in the corner of the room — but before either of them could build the courage to bring the subject up they heard footsteps in the hall.

“Mom!” A flash of green ran into the room.

Justin pushed Xukun aside and sat down on the chair, grabbing Zhengting’s hand and crying as if Zhengting were on his death bed. Xukun didn’t even look annoyed over the youngest boy’s actions, he just laughed as he stood behind them.

“I was so worried!” Justin cried. Zhengting laughed before patting the boy’s head.

“He’s not dying Justin.” Xinchun said as he walked into the room, closing the door that Justin had thrown open.

“How are you feeling?” The redhead asked Zhengting, smiling softly.

“I’ve had better days.” Zhengting admitted honestly.

“I don’t want to say I told you so- “Xinchun began.

“-But we told you so!” Justin cried dramatically.

“When exactly did you ever tell me anything about this?” Zhengting raised an eyebrow unimpressed.

“Oh my god, you’re so sick you already lost some memories!” Justin gasped. “Why do _bad_ things happen to _good_ people!”

Justin was so lucky he was cute because only he could come up with that shit and not be kicked out.

“Zeren is gonna kill you, by the way.” Xinchun told him.

Zhengting groaned.

“Please don’t remind me.”

“The rest of the guys are super worried, but they can’t come over until their breaks.”

“It’s fine, they don’t have to come. I’m fine.” Zhengting laughed awkwardly and waved him off. But stopped quickly at the look the other three boys gave him.

“You fainted.” Xukun said sourly.

“It sounds worse than it is!” Zhengting smiled weakly, head pounding harshly enough to make him wince. Which only further proved the point that he was, in fact, not okay.

“Anyways,” Justin piped in, suddenly serious. “What the hell were you thinking!?”

Zhengting pouted.

“It’s not like I did it on purpose.” He said.

“Coulda fooled me.” Xinchun rolled his eyes.

“So stupid!” Justin cried. “The stupidest thing you’ve done all summer! You could have gotten seriously sick.”

Zhengting frowned, feeling bad for making Justin worry so much.

“And I was such an asshole to you this morning too.” Justin’s face crumbled and Zhengting’s face mirrored his.

“Justin no, _I'm_ the one in the wrong here, and I’m sorry…” Zhengting said softly, taking the younger's hand in his and giving it a squeeze. “I didn’t mean to worry you guys so much, I’ll never do this again.”

“You better not!” Xinchun jumped in.

“I won’t!” Zhengting pouted, feeling slightly offended by the lack of hope but he could totally understand the doubts.

“You’re such a mess.” Justin sighed fondly, shaking his head at Zhengting but gripping his hand tightly in return.

Xukun for his part was just staring at Zhengting. At his pout. At a pouting Zhengting. As if Zhengting weren’t cute enough.

Then _he_ walked in the room.

Zhengting should really stop thinking in italics but this time it was necessary.

You Zhangjing, all five feet seven inches of pure rage, walked into the room and scared everyone shitless.

“What were you thinking!?” He hollered the second he locked eyes with Zhengting.

“That’s what I said!” Justin agreed before shrinking away from Zhangjing’s glare.

“Now, now, Zhangjing,” Xukun cut in. “There’s no need to raise your voice, his head must already hurt as it is.” He motioned to Zhengting who was wincing at the loud volume of their voices.

Zhangjing collected himself a little but still looked pissed.

“I knew somebody would have a heat stroke at one point, because there’s always that somebody who is foolish enough to ignore my warnings,” Zhangjing snapped. “But I never expected this idiocy from you, Zhengting.”

Zhengting honestly felt really guilty, and stupid, but mostly guilty. Not just because of what Zhangjing said but also about the whole Xukun thing. None of this would have happened if he had been upfront about the whole things since the start. It just snowballed out of his control. At this point, he really just wanted to go home and hide in his room for a good week or two.

“I’m sorry…” Zhengting said sadly.

Zhangjing sighed, sounding awfully tired himself.

“We’ll have a serious conversation about this later.” He warned.

Zhengting nodded.

“Now you have to rest here for a while until the nurse says you’re good to go,” Zhangjing started saying, in his ‘I mean business’ voice. “And when you feel a little better you’ll go home and for the next few days you’ll rest even more.”  

“Days!?” Xukun exclaimed

“Did I stutter.” Zhangjing seethed.

Xukun shrunk back. “No sir.”

Zhangjing nodded, pleased with the obedience. Then he snapped out of it when he noticed the other two boys in the room.

“And what are you guys doing here!” He glared suspiciously. “Slacking off?”

“No!” Xinchun said agitatedly. “We came to see if Zhengting was okay.”

“And we’re on break.” Justin added.

“Well, you’ve seen him, and he is fine, now let him be.” Zhangjing pointed to the door and the younger two complained indignantly.

“And you!” He turned to look at Xukun again, who was trying to become one with the wall. “Prince Charming was supposed to be with Cinderella on their carriage minutes ago!”

“But-” Xukun stuttered.

“But nothing! Chop chop!” Zhangjing clapped twice before pushing the groaning boy out of the room.

Xukun turned once to give Zhengting a look before the door closed, a heavy look full of meaning. One Zhengting understood clearly.

_‘We’ll talk later.’_

Zhengting sunk into his pillows worry setting heavy in his gut. Great… now he has two deep and reprimanding talks queued up. But then he remembered what Zhangjing had told him.

Days.

He won’t see Xukun for days after this shit storm.

Zhengting groaned again, and this time it had nothing to do with his pounding head.

He was so screwed… why did he have to make his life so complicated? Maybe it was the dehydration or his headache speaking, but he had to agree with what Justin had said —It was becoming a pattern, actually, for Justin to be right.

He _was_ a mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! The reveal is done! I was getting so annoyed by how dramatic the whole thing was, so everything Justin and Chengx2 said here was basically me just rolling my eyes because of how ridiculous this whole thing was and how much I accidentally drew it out for.  
> Technically the major plot point resolved in this chapter, but there are still some things that need to happen before the end of the fic aand I am thinking of making a separate fic full of drabbles with the deleted/missing scenes of sorts between the chapters of this story that I couldn't fit in anywhere, I don't know if anyone is interested but I really want to answer some missing plot points. So there will be many other POVs of other people plus lots of Xukun chapters!  
> As always, thank you to everyone who comments and kudos my baby aka this fic, hopefully you will like this chapter cause I spent so many days editing it that I'm already tired of it lmao (if anybody catches any mistake pls do tell me lol).


	8. a wish your heart makes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!
> 
> Yes, yes I tried desperately to finish this chapter before Christmas ended just so I could say that and at least in my side of the world I still have almost five hours to go until it ends  
> This is the longest chapter there will ever be and it is a gift for disappearing for so long (three months, yikes!)  
> Enjoy!

Zhengting was moping.

He was literally rolling around in his bed all morning, dying… of _embarrassment_.

That was how he had spent the past two days after the whole mess of his fainting episode and its aftermath. Those memories kept coming back in spurts of shame at random times of the day— one second, he was fine and then he remembered, and he had to sit down and try not to slam his head against any flat surface.

“Sup.” Justin appeared at his door, three days into his special sick leave.

Zhengting groaned in his face before stomping right back to his bed.

Justin was laughing as he walked into his room. “What’s got you in a funk? You are so lucky to have a three-day vacation _during_ summer vacations.”

“I’m so embarrassed!”  Zhengting shouted into his pillow so Justin could only vaguely hear the words.

“What?” He smirked.

“I’m so embarrassed!” Zhengting lifted his head off his pillow to yell again. “Why didn’t you stop me before I made such a big mess.”

Justin looked blankly at him for a second. “I’m not scared to hit you now that you’re okay.”

Zhengting sighed before rolling over to give Justin room to lay down.

“It’s not as bad as you think.” Justin laughed, belly-flopping on Zhengting’s bed.

“It isn’t?” Zhengting asked nervously.

“I mean it was super dramatic and hilarious and kinda embarrassing but it was also pretty cool.” Justin shrugged. “Like a scene out of a drama or something, everybody is talking about it.”

“Wh _at_?” Zhengting’s voice went high pitched in panic.

Justin winced a little as if knowing that he said something he shouldn’t.

“I mean… not everybody… just, the majority?” He smiled awkwardly, watching how Zhengting froze in horror.

“Please tell me you’re messing with me,” Zhengting whispered, staring lifelessly at the ceiling.

“I’m just preparing you for what you’ll see tomorrow at work.” Justin patted Zhengting’s stomach.

“Whaddup!” A random voice yelled out before jumping on top of both Justin and Zhengting on the bed.

Zhengting groaned in pain as Justin yelled and started hitting the other boy.

“Chengcheng, do you really have to do that every time you see them laying down together?” Wenjun asked as he sat down beside the hurt boys.

“Not fair that they don’t include me in their cuddle sessions.” Chengcheng pouted and rubbed his poor head. Justin glared at him while rubbing his back too.

“We weren’t even cuddling!” Justin snapped.

“–Yet!” Chengcheng glared back. “Because _I_ stopped it.”

“I’m sick here and you keep hurting me!” Zhengting cried out, holding his stomach.

“As if you weren’t already fine.” Chengcheng waved it off. “The only reason you got so many days off is because of protocol, you were good after day one.”

Zhengting pouted.

“What are guys even doing here so early?” Zhengting squinted his eyes suspiciously.

“I just dropped off the other three at Disney.” Wenjun smiled. Oh, that’s right, Wenjun was an angel that still drove people around even on his days off— too precious, too kind.

“I wanted to see if you were better,” Justin said offhandedly but Zhengting knew better. What a big softie, Justin had been the most constant of his kids to check up on him.

“I wanted a breakfast burrito.” Chengcheng pouted. “You left your week incomplete, so Zeren is the one who brings breakfast now.”

Zhengting deadpanned.

“And _I_ brought you one!” Chengcheng pulled out proudly Zeren’s breakfast burrito out of nowhere.

Zhengting laughed at his dork and thanked him before unwrapping the good ol’ breakfast burrito.

“Since you’re still technically ‘sick’, we’ll just spend the day with you!” Chengcheng beamed with a shrug, taking a bite out of Zhengting’s breakfast burrito.

“You already ate, you big oaf.” Justin smacked the back of Chengcheng’s head again.

“I’m still hungry.” He whined.

“There’s an entire kitchen downstairs.” Zhengting offered.

Chengcheng sighed before giving Wenjun puppy eyes.

Wenjun sighed and stood up, “Guess I’ll make more breakfast.”

Chengcheng and Zhengting cheered. Justin rolled his eyes good-naturedly and followed the duo as they made their way down to Zhengting’s kitchen.

Wenjun was fast to prepare the food but that was only because he kicked both Chengcheng and Zhengting out of the kitchen while he worked and made them set up the table for breakfast. Justin just sat by on the counter munching on some berries, watching everybody work for him.

“You could’ve helped a little,” Wenjun grumbled after they all sat down at the table.

“Nah, you had it all under control.” Justin grinned.

“But for real though, you’ve made a name for yourself at the park,” Chengcheng said once they were eating.

Zhengting stopped, a forkful of scrambled eggs midway to his mouth.

“I’m suddenly not hungry anymore.” Zhengting pouted, dropping his fork back on his plate.

“Couldn’t you have waited until after we had breakfast?” Wenjun rolled his eyes.

“My bad.” Chengcheng grinned.

Zhengting dropped his head down on the table —thankfully, Wenjun pushed away his plate before he would have had a face full of food— and groaned painfully.

“How bad is it?” He asked mournfully.

The other three gave each other an unreadable look over his head and didn’t answer.

 

  

 

“Stop being so dramatic.” Zeren rolled his eyes. “It’s not as bad as you think it is.”

“Yeah, it’s not like the staff is gonna jump out of the gates taking pictures of you or something.” Xinchun said, watching Zhengting creep around the corner, with huge dark sunglasses and a mask covering half his face.

“Only Chengcheng is doing that.”  Quanzhe added.

“Chengcheng!” Zeren scolded the younger boy. But Chengcheng, as always, carried on like nothing, snapping a photo of Zhengting even faster before running ahead and away from Zhengting’s fists.

“Don’t worry Zhengting,” Wenjun smiled. “I’m pretty sure everyone is already over it.”

It sure as hell did not sound convincing.

“That’s not what you said yesterday!” Zhengting cried out.

“We said nothing yesterday!” Justin retorted.

“That was more than enough to imagine what everyone thinks.” Zhengting pouted.

 “You didn’t have to dye your hair because of that.” Justin rolled his eyes.

Zhengting’s pout deepened, his hand briefly going up to touch the brand-new golden locks that peeked out from under his snapback.

“I didn’t dye my hair because of what happened.” Zhengting huffed.

“Yeah! Zhengting is so dramatic that he doesn’t need a reason for a hair statement.” Chengcheng’s voice echoed across the parking lot, snapping picture even from the distance.

Zhengting glared at him.

“I look good okay!” Zhengting snapped back.

“And totally different.” Quanzhe added again. “Which is pretty much what you were going for, right?”

Zhengting sent a little glare in his direction too, but it didn’t even have a quarter of annoyance compared to the glare Zhengting had given Chengcheng.

“Favoritism!” Chengcheng cried out.

“So what!” Zhengting yelled back.

“Okay, lets at least make into the park before we start having a yelling match again.” Wenjun laughed, pushing Zhengting and Zeren forward.

And they did, they made it all the way to the dressing rooms with no more than a few strange glances and curious whispers. But Wenjun was sure it had to do more with the fact that Zhengting looked really sketchy in his getup than with the fact that it was Zhengting who was back— Not that Zhengting thought like that, with the way he kept creeping around every corner, rolling behind stands or trees or even Wenjun himself, because apparently being tall made him a perfect hiding spot.

“You good?” Wenjun asked amused, looking back at Zhengting who was inconspicuously making his way under Wenjun’s jacket.

“Is the coast clear?” Zhengting whisper-yelled.

“Pretty much.” Wenjun chuckled.

“And pretty soon it won’t be because you two keep walking like snails! Now hurry the fuck up!” Justin groaned from behind them.

“Language.” Zeren mumbled, concentrating on his phone. “By the way, Yanchen wants you to meet him in break room #3.”

“What? Why!” Zhengting furrowed his brows. “I thought I already had The Talk™ with Zhangjing.”

“Yeah, and since when do you talk to Yanchen?” Chengcheng grinned mischievously.

 “Since always?” Zeren looked up confused. “He is the friend I told you guys that worked here?”

“Wait, Yanchen is your Disney worker friend?” Wenjun asked surprised. “As in the one that told you about the perks of working here?”

“Yeaaah?” Zeren answered, looking amused.

“Why are you still talking in questions?” Xinchun laughed. Zhengting, on the other hand, looked betrayed.

“And why are we barely finding out about this now?!” Zhengting yelled in outrage.

“Because nobody asked!” Zeren yelled back.

“So much for no yelling matches…” Wenjun sighed as he watched them pose angrily in front of him.

“At least we made it into the dressing rooms this time?” Quanzhe shrugged with a laugh, standing next to Wenjun as he watched the rest make a mess out of themselves thanks to the newly acquired information.

“We’ve been working here for an entire month and you never thought about mentioning it? Not once?” Justin rolled his eyes.

“Never thought it was that important…” Zeren pouted. “The topic never came up.”

“Well, this certainly makes your interactions way more interesting.” Xinchun smiled knowingly.

Zeren looked at him suspiciously, “What do you mea—”

"Zhengting!" A voice called out suddenly, interrupting their little yelling match.

Zhengting, of course, freaked the fuck out and just randomly jumped behind the main door. The rest of the guys just gave him a variety of weird looks— Quanzhe, Xinchun, and Zeren just gave him teasing grins and waggling eyebrows, Wenjun looked completely blank and unimpressed, as per usual, but it was the troublesome duo that confused Zhengting the most, because they actually looked rather put out about the interruption, or more like, about who interrupted them.

It was the first time they all reacted so openly and differently about somebody calling out to Zhengting.

Zhengting himself felt off-kilter because of that so when he peaked out more behind the door and he came face to face with Yanjun, looking adorably concerned already in his Prince Eric getup, it confused him even more.

"Heey..." Zhengting smiled awkwardly, shuffling even more awkwardly out from his hiding place behind the door. He was instantly aware of his entire getup, blonde hair included, and hurriedly took off his hat-sunglasses-mask getup, because he didn’t need to look crazier than he already was.

“Fairy, _hey_ ,” Yanjun whispered softly, looking intently at Zhengting. And Zhengting felt even more self-conscious now, with nothing in the way of the way Yanjun was staring at him. “You changed your hair…” He said just as softly, reaching up to touch it briefly, and now Zhengting felt like he was going to melt.

He gave Justin a panicked look, one that made him snap out of his brooding and speak up loudly, “Well we should go change!”, and that finally made the rest of the guys spread around the room, giving Zhengting and Yanjun the space… that he wasn’t asking for! What the hell? He wanted backup to back up and away from the situation, not to be left alone with no backup. _That little shit_.

“Hey,” Yanjun said sweetly again, trying to gain his attention back.

“Hey!” Zhengting smiled while screaming internally.

He hated confrontations. And he was sure that his talk with Yanjun wasn’t anything close to one, but it still made him feel nervous.

Yanjun, on the other hand, just smiled back, eyes lighting up.

“How are you doing?” Yanjun continued, face going back to seriously concerned. "I was so worried after Zhangjing told me you fainted, and I couldn't even talk to you because I don’t have your number and Zhangjing didn't want to give it to me–" Yanjun cut himself off to sigh in frustration, "–and your friends just told me you were better but I still wanted to hear it for myself, y’know?"

Zhengting had never heard Yanjun ramble so much. It was sweet, how worried he could get over the people he knew.

"I'm so glad you're back but are you well enough to be back? And in your costume? As in your Duffy costume? What if something happens again? Maybe you can do a Quanzhe and change positions–"

"Yanjun," Zhengting said, touching his arm. "Breathe."

Yanjun stopped and deflated, leaning into his touch.

"I'm fine now." Zhengting continued with a guilty sort of smile. "After the first day, in fact, I was good to go."

Yanjun just stared at him, a conflicted expression on his handsome features.

"I should have been here to take care of you." He whispered softly. "But it just happened to be my day off..."

Zhengting felt himself panic at the first part of that sentence. What was that supposed to mean? He swallowed nervously, oddly shy.

"I should have taken care of myself." Zhengting finally concluded. Which was true. It was one of the strongest thoughts on his mind for the last days, he should have known better, he did, but he didn't care enough to care about his health.

Yanjun then grabbed Zhengting's hand — the one he still had on Yanjun's arm, without realizing— and looked at him determined.

"I– “

“Can you please move away from the entrance?” An irritated voice piped up and interrupted Yanjun. "Am I interrupting something?"

Now _that_ voice froze Zhengting's blood, this time he actually wanted to jump behind the door and stay there for the entire day.

Slowly —as slowly as possible because he honestly did not want to turn around, as if that was going to make the other person disappear—he turned to find Xukun.

Cai Xukun.

Looking as delicious as always.

God, Zhengting was thirsty little bitch… and also, why would he be stupid enough to neglect himself of seeing that face and that _everything_ for an entire month.

Zhengting would have groaned at his terrible, no good, bad luck but as it was, he was frozen in the midst of his panic.

"No." "Yes."

Zhengting and Yanjun answered at the same time.

Zhengting turned to look at Yanjun incredulously, "Yes?" He asked confused.

"Yes." Yanjun answered firmly.

"Oh." Zhengting said surprised, eyebrows rising.

" _Oh_?" Xukun said sternly, looking irritated.

Yanjun just smiled tightly.

And Zhengting looked longingly at the door.

The thought of hiding behind it became more appealing as the seconds passed by.

“Lin Yanjun! Zhu Zhengting! Cai Xukun!” Zhangjing’s voice suddenly called out, making all three jump and the weird and tense atmosphere finally break. “Why are you still standing in the entrance?”

“Uhm…” Zhengting stuttered.

“You,” Zhangjing pointed at Yanjun, “You are already ready now so go outside and find your princess. You,” He pointed at Xukun, “Go change for Pete’s sake. And you,” He turned to glare at Zhengting, “Yanchen has been waiting for you in break room #3 for the past ten minutes already so go!”

“Yes, Zhangjing.” All three chimed up with varying levels of enthusiasm AKA none. Or at least in the other two’s voice, because Zhengting was eternally grateful for Zhangjing’s intervention and Yanchen’s calling.

“What are you waiting for?!” Zhangjing piped up again in exasperation.

Zhengting turned to look at the other two who were apparently having a stare-off or something and skedaddled the fuck out of there. He had to pass through their staring competition and interrupt (because of course, he did) before practically bolting out of the dressing rooms.

Ignoring the obvious telltale prickling of two heavy stares on the back of his head as he walked away from confrontation, as always, and of the two handsome boys who were stressing him out way more than they should, to be totally honest.

 

  

 

“You are my new favorite person!” Zhengting cried out before glomping Yanchen, beautiful, kind, sunshine embodied, Zhou Yanchen.

Yanchen just laughed at him before hugging him back, “I’m glad you’re feeling better, but why the sudden appreciation? Not that I mind.” He grinned wider.

“You got me out of the awkwardest situation ever,” Zhengting groaned with a pout. “I honestly did not know how I could escape it and you and Zhangjing appeared out of nowhere to save me, you _angels_.”

“Zhangjing? An angel? I’ll make sure to tell him you said that,” Yanchen snorted, “By the way… Did this awkward situation have anything to do with the standoff that Yanjun and Xukun had this morning?”

“Wha–“Zhengting sputtered. “How do you know about that?! And what do you mean ‘this morning’? It literally happened like less than five minutes ago, I’m literally coming from there right now? Why are you talking about it as if an entire day has passed? And tell me how you know about that again?”

Yanchen grinned mirthfully.

“News travel fast in Disneyland, my good dude.” He answered with a shrug.

Zhengting groaned.

Just what he needed. More drama.

That certainly answered his question about how much of his dramatic reveal was known… all of it, it was all known. And now there was even more drama to be known with Zhengting at the center of it, as always. Just fucking great, just peachy.

He didn’t even want to think about the implications of whatever the hell had just happened with Yanjun and Xukun. At least not now, or today, or any time in the near future. Not on his own account, at the very least.

“Now about the reason why I called you here…” Yanchen stopped smiling, looking awfully serious for a boy who always smiled brightly.

When Yanchen gets serious it’s a lot like when Wenjun gets serious— a lot of sighing, pouts, and the disappointed eyebrows. He _loathed_ the disappointed eyebrows.

“Please _never_ do something like that again.” Yanchen said sadly. “I… I know I’m not the best attendant and I’m sorry for that–“

Zhengting frowned back, his guilt returning tenfold. “Yanchen, _no_ –“

“–But I promise to try harder,” Yanchen looked so desperate and Zhengting felt like the shittiest person ever. It was one thing to fail your best friends who knew of your stupidity and could understand it, and another to fail your friends who didn’t know and would only blame themselves.

“Yanchen, you have nothing to apologize for.” Zhengting insisted, equally as desperate for Yanchen to understand. “You’ve been great! One of the kindest guys and attendants in this place. That day… it was just me being stupid and making stupid decisions and going through them until the end.”

“I was supposed to be _taking_ _care of you_ Zhengting,” Yanchen stressed, as if Zhengting wasn’t understanding. Why did everybody want to take care of him all of a sudden? “That is _my job_ , first I failed Quanzhe so bad that he had to change jobs, and now I failed you and you actually passed out and almost went to the hospital. How is that not me doing a bad job?”

Zhengting stopped short at that. Did Yanchen really blame himself for all of that? In theory, it did sound bad, but in reality, all of that shit had happened because he and his groups of friends were dumb.

“Yanchen, my sunshine boy,” Zhengting began, automatically switching into his ‘mom mode’ as Chengcheng would call it. “You honestly believe that, don’t you?”

Yanchen looked down, looking a little sad. Zhengting sighed sadly, he pulled the other boy down to sit beside him on one of the chairs closest to them.

“Look,” He began, “Nothing that happened with me or Quanzhe had _anything_ to do with you Yanchen, no offense, but in these cases both of us really got way into our own heads and had our own personal reasons to soldier through shitty situations that had nothing to do with you at all.”

Yanchen did not look convinced, so he kept talking because if there was anything Zhengting was good at, it was at pointlessly talking in hopes of actually comforting someone.

“You always helped with our jobs and made them ten times easier, _promise_.” He held a hand to his heart, “Quanzhe just never liked being a fur character but even when he was one and wasn’t talking to us, he had you, and you helped a lot, way more than you think, even if you think you were only his lunch break friend.”

Yanchen smiled a bit at that.

“And my case… why are you acting as if you don’t already know the whole mess I had going on with Xukun?” Zhengting moaned pitifully. “Everybody knows about it by this point.”

Yanchen did smirk at that, laughing out loud when Zhengting hit his arm.

“There was nothing you could have done to make sure we didn’t make everything a hundred times more dramatic, because it is in our blood to be dramatic, in all my group’s, actually. You did pretty good despite everything.”

“You guys do have a knack for making things way more difficult then they have to be.” Yanchen agreed with a thoughtful nod.

“We do.” Zhengting agreed. “What can I say? It’s a gift.”

Yanchen laughed again, smile brightening up the room again, as it is meant to.

“So you promise to not blame yourself any longer?” Zhengting poked Yanchen’s chest playfully. “And I’ll promise never to do something as stupid like that ever again— not that I would willingly ever do that to myself, I’ve had enough embarrassment to last me a lifetime.”

Yanchen beamed at him. “I promise, I promise to take care of you better now, too.”

“I can take care of myself!” Zhengting pouted, looking indignantly at the taller boy. You faint _once_ , and then everybody thinks you’re useless at taking care of yourself all of a sudden.

“It’s not that I think you can’t take care of yourself, Zhengting.” Yanchen smiled indulgently. “It’s just that sometimes people will want to take care of you too, the way you do to everybody else— that’s what friends do, we take care of each other.”

 Zhengting never thought Yanchen of all people would be the one to say something like that to him. And honestly, as if Zhengting wasn’t already emotional because of everything that had happened during the last days, Yanchen had to go ahead and drop him a sweet soft truth bomb.

“Yancheen!” Zhengting cried out, literally bawling, hands in fists over his eyes. Yanchen started freaking out before laughing at Zhengting’s cute crying face.

“You’re so cute, Zhengzheng.” He chuckled, patting Zhengting’s head softly.

 

  

 

Zhengting felt good.

Yeah, so he had had the most embarrassing morning ever, especially because of the whole Yanjun-Xukun thing — that apparently, everybody had heard about because _somebody_ uploaded a picture of that moment alongside with a caption onto twitter and now everybody that he worked with and beyond now knew about it.

But after Yanchen’s talk, he honestly felt _so soft._

Was that even a proper adjective to describe his mood?

Because he felt like that.

Even with the embarrassment and the teasing he had to deal with throughout the day, everybody had been super nice and thoughtful and concerned about him. Xiao Gui and Bufan had even brought him feel-better churros. He didn’t know they were even a thing but Bufan knew the churro stand guy, Yueyue or something, and he made them extra big just for Zhengting. Which was honestly a super sweet gift and very yummy too, Quanzhe certainly enjoyed them as did Chengcheng.

Ziyi kept finding him every hour or so Zhengting was outside and would not leave him alone until he saw him go take breaks. Zhenghao kept following him around the break rooms like a little duckling, asking him how he was and how he was doing. Even Zhou Rui gave him some hydrating drink and offered him advice about the overheating problem.

And that was not counting what his dumb friends would be doing every time he met one. They seemed to have done a system of sorts to watch over Zhengting. He always saw one of them wherever he went, and he was so fond of his idiots because of that, that he didn’t even chew them out for the obvious lack of trust. Yanjun also became a permanent fixture throughout his day. The older boy was also always around and trying to make him smile as he always did.

And Zhengting had known these guys for all of a month and a half but he felt so happy that they were such nice people to worry about him like they did and treat him so kindly. It was strange being the center of so many people’s attention, but he grew kinda used to it by the middle of the day.

Everything would have been perfect.

If only Xukun didn’t seem to be avoiding him.

It’s not like Zhengting was going out of his way to look for him and talk to him either— because he knew they had to talk, no matter how much he dreaded the idea of it. But, while normally he would bump into the younger boy every few hours, today he had only seen him once and it was in the morning which did not count because it had been the most nerve-racking experience ever since that time he fainted in a bear costume… so like, since three days ago.

It felt weird seeing everybody but not Xukun. It also emphasized the difference between always having Xukun’s attention compared to having everyone else’s. He wanted to ask someone where Xukun was, but he felt too guilty to actually do it. What right did he have to do that when he spent days avoiding the other boy? He was a hypocrite! Zhengting cried internally, or as internally as he could, so not very internally.

“Are you okay?” Nongnong asked him, looking like he was trying not to laugh at Zhengting’s weird high-pitched whine. They were outside, next to the entrance of the Alice in Wonderland’s maze, watching Yanchen run around trying to control Bufan and Yanlei (AKA Goofy and the Mad Hatter) who were chasing each other because Leilei, too in character, offended the ever-so-delicate Bufan— Goofy was technically part of Nongnong’s crew but Yanchen was a good sport about it so he was the one doing the chasing.

“Yeah…” Zhengting lied, suddenly very disheartened. He just wanted to go home and forget about the heavy feeling he felt in his tummy at the thought of Xukun being mad at him for what he did. “Just tired.”

“Are you feeling dizzy again or something?” Nongnong then asked worriedly.

“Oh no! Not like that,” Zhengting laughed it off. “I feel the normal tired, not the I’m-gonna-pass-out type of tired.”

“Ah, okay.” Nongnong went back to smiling again. “But just in case, you should go take a break.”

“I don’t need one…” Zhengting trailed off once Nongnong gave him a look, a very not Nongnong look. “Or maybe I do! I should totally go take another break.” He smiled painfully wide.

“Good idea!” Nongnong said cheerfully once again before waving him off. “I’ll tell Yanchen about it, so don’t worry about that.”

“Okay, you do that…” Zhengting agreed, chuckling awkwardly at the situation. Damn, Nongnong could get kinda scary when he wanted _,_ Zhengting thought, as he made his way to the closest utilidor door that led to the closest break room.

He was in a part of the park’s underground that he rarely went through. He was never a big fan of the utilidors because he tended to get lost in the too many hallways, he found it way easier to just make his way through the park above ground. Besides, the one time he decided to use them didn’t have too many positive connotations to it.

He had barely taken off his Duffy head, ruffling his blonde hair, when he bumped into the person he had been thinking about so much all day.

“Kunkun…” Zhengting whispered, shocked by the other’s sudden appearance.

Xukun stared at him, briefly looking surprised before staring blankly at Zhengting. Not the reaction he was expecting, Zhengting felt very nervous. The last time he was with Xukun in the utilidors was stressful, this being the first time both were alone since then made him even more stressed about the same possibility of ruining things again.

“Zhengting.” Xukun acknowledged him with a small nod.

And then they stayed in awkward silence for a few seconds. But those seconds felt like minutes when Zhengting just wanted to fill the empty space between them with half-hearted excuses.

“H-hi?” Zhengting said nervously, wanting to slap himself immediately after because of how stupid he sounded. Xukun seemed to relax a little after he said that though, eyes going a little soft at Zhengting’s timidness.

“Hi.” Xukun said softly, speaking to him like he usually did. Now though, Zhengting felt even more exposed without Duffy to protect his expressions.

“I… haven’t seen you around?” Zhengting asked quietly, looking up at Xukun through his eyelashes. To hell with it, he was openly curious, and he wanted answers even though he was embarrassed.

Xukun just stared intently at him for a while. For a long while.

Zhengting instantly went into panic mode again — his go-to mode these days— thinking that maybe he overstepped some invisible boundary.

“Xukun?” He asked worriedly, leaning closer to the other boy’s face.

“Hmm…?” Xukun murmured, looking a little winded for some reason. Then he finally Xukun snapped out of it and coughed awkwardly, looking away.

“Are you okay?” _Do you hate me?_ Zhengting cried dramatically in his mind.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Xukun gave him a little smile. “I’ve just been busy with Meiqi lately.”

Oh.

“Really?” Zhengting smiled weakly.

“Yup,” Xukun said. “There is going to be a new show with the face characters this summer, we are going to do these reenactments of movie scenes, so we have to practice them a lot.”

“That sounds really cool!” Zhengting beamed, suddenly very excited. He loved all the Disney movies, so he was totally going to make sure Duffy randomly wandered by when those reenactments happen.

Xukun looked lost in his mind again, staring dazedly at him. Zhengting wondered what he thought about him, about his face. If Xukun thought Zhengting’s face matched with his voice, with his attitude, with his laugh. He felt all his insecurities rise back up again, remembering exactly just why he kept hiding from this boy for so long.

It was always easy to talk to Xukun and fall back into their same conversations, forgetting about their unresolved issues and the whole fiasco. But Zhengting couldn’t run away from that forever and he instantly tensed up once he thought about that. Xukun seemed to notice that too, his whole face darkened at the realization and he looked down at his feet.

They seemed lifetimes away again.

So Zhengting braced himself for the inevitable.

“So you and Yanjun, huh?” Xukun asked bitterly.

And, like huh?

What did that have anything to do with their situation? Zhengting had said he didn’t want to think about those two together in a sentence with himself but now Xukun seemed to be almost accusing him of something Zhengting wasn’t sure was there.

“It’s not what you’re thinking.” Zhengting sighed.

“And do tell, Zhengting, what do you think I’m thinking?” Xukun asked coldly. A complete 180° from his normal persona. Where did his sweet, warm-hearted Xukun go?

“I don’t know but, maybe, probably, t-that me and Yanjun are like s-something?” Zhengting stuttered nervously. Wincing at the words but mostly at the look Xukun gave him.

Xukun paused before asking him again, “And are you?”

“No!” Zhengting yelled, straightening up from the way he had curled up in midst his nerves. Xukun sighed.

“Does he know that?” He asked him, looking tired and not looking directly at Zhengting anymore. Zhengting felt like he had answered wrong, like this entire conversation was going wrong.

“I-“

“You know what? I gotta go...” Xukun interrupted him softly, lips curling slightly at the edges but not really there at all. “I'll see you later.”

“Kun...” Zhengting frowned worriedly, raising his arm in a sad excuse of a wave— or reaching for him, he didn’t even know anymore.

But Zhengting stayed there — in the hallway watching Xukun walk away from him, from their conversation — wondering how the hell such a normal, slightly awkward, conversation ended up going downhill so quickly.

 

    

 

Great, now he was in a bad mood.

How could a pretty boy change the state of his emotions so fucking fast?

Zhengting practically stomped his way over to the break room. He hated having to take breaks, at least when he was outside he could forget about his own stupidity and about Xukun and Yanjun and whatever the hell was going on between them. But when he was in the break rooms, he had to see other people, other people who apparently knew about everything and judged him about it.

Peachy.

Everything was peachy.

Peachy. Peachy. Peach, peachy. Peach.

“You want a peach?” Xinchun asked amusedly, his head suddenly appearing from behind a couch.

“If only it was about me wanting a fruit.” Zhengting sighed loudly, sitting down on a beanbag, way more used to finding one of his friends randomly in a break room now than he was a month ago.

“I’m not even going to ask if you’re okay because you never are.” Justin huffed, walking into the room, arms full of snacks. “You never make it easy for yourself.”

“What took you so long?” Xinchun laughed.

“Were you following me?” Zhengting shouted, kicking a foot out towards Peter Pan.

“Noo…” Justin drawled out playfully, dodging away from his kick. “I just happened to be on my way here from the pretzel stands, when I saw you and Xukun looking at each other rather intensely, for minutes. Blocking the way by the way.”

“Stalker.” Zhengting mumbled.

“Am not!” Justin exclaimed offended. “Anyways! What was all that about?”

Zhengting sighed again.

“I’m still not sure…” He said pitifully. “When I do, I’ll tell you.”

“I’m sure we’d figure out first before you, Zhengting.” Xinchun said. “No offense.”

“Full offense.” Justin corrected.

Zhengting pouted.

“I don’t want to talk about Xukun right now guys, if you don’t mind.” Zhengting said softly.

“Then who do you want to talk about?” Justin inquired. Looking at Zhengting strangely, as in, he looked actually serious. He hated serious Justin, he never held back.

Zhengting wasn’t emotionally ready for a serious Justin. He never was.

“Nobody.” Zhengting said through gritted teeth. He knew who Justin was referring to, but he didn’t want to give in… but Zhengting was too damn curious and nosy for his own good. No wonder his life was full of drama nowadays. “Actually, yeah, I do want to talk about someone.”

Justin raised his brows, as if telling him to go on. Xinchun kept to himself, deciding to be the audience for this talk. Lucky him.

"I want to know why none of you let Yanjun talk to me during my days off,” Zhengting said calmly. He felt like this talk would be even more of a landmine than the one with Xukun had been. “Why didn't you give Yanjun my number? I felt bad making him worry so much."

"You can't just string along two boys Zhengting." Justin snapped. Surprising everybody, even Justin himself. And there goes the first boom…

It was almost as if he were waiting for Zhengting to make that comment. Zhengting was not really sure where to go from there so he just powered through. Knowing full well that this was going to end up being a roast-Zhengting-special anyway.

At least there was nobody else in that break room. He had enough with Xinchun being his one-man audience.

"What is that supposed to mean." Zhengting frowned. Justin sighed before saying what was on his mind.

"It means that you say you like Xukun, but the minute Yanjun flirts with you, you flirt back," Justin said seriously. "You don't get to do that to them, you have to choose one."

"Yanjun is just my friend!" Zhengting snapped.

“So you acknowledge that you keep flirting with him.” Justin huffed.

“It doesn’t mean anything!” Zhengting crossed his arms defensively.

"Okay, guys, lets calm down." Xinchun sighed, deciding to intervene before it got nasty.

"Does he know that?!" Justin raised his voice above Xinchun’s.

And Zhengting stopped short.

It was the second time somebody said that in the same hour. Was he really giving out so many mixed signals? He didn’t think his little comebacks were such a big thing. How could Yanjun possibly like him just because of that?

Zhengting deflated and so did Justin, the younger boy's angry features smoothing once he saw Zhengting's reaction.

"I know it's probably not on purpose Zhengting, but you have to think about this seriously," Justin said softly, "I don't want you to end up looking like the bad guy."

Zhengting softened even more.

“Yanjun flirts with everybody,” Zhengting said weakly, trying to find the right explanation. “I don’t see why everyone makes it seem as if he were in love with me or something.”

Justin and Xinchun gave each other a look, one that Zhengting didn’t miss and did not want to look to into. No, no, no thanks, he had enough. He didn’t want to know. And he didn’t need to be informed by Peter Pan and a lost boy, no thank you. As if this situation wasn’t ridiculous enough.

“He doesn’t flirt with anybody else the way he does with you.” Xinchun said slowly, carefully.

“And,” Justin added just as carefully. “If you took two seconds to stop thinking about Xukun and your dumb Duffy situation, you would have noticed that Yanjun hasn’t flirted with anybody for weeks now. Not really, anyways.”

“Anybody who is not you.” Xinchun finished.

Zhengting stayed silent, considering all the implications their words gave. Wishing for the hundredth time that day, that he could still be hiding away from his problems in his bed.

“There is a reason why Xukun is reacting so strongly.” Justin shrugged his shoulders.

“Why everybody is reacting so strongly.” Xinchun grimaced empathetically.

“What do you mean by that?” Zhengting asked fearfully. He knew it, people had been staring at him differently and it wasn’t the hair.

“Remember the twitter thing from this morning?” Xinchun asked.

“How to forget,” Zhengting frowned. Chengcheng was going to get it.

“Well, there’s a poll now.” Xinchun said, shuffling in his seat.

“A poll of what.” Zhengting said seriously.

“That isn’t a question…” Xinchun chuckled awkwardly, avoiding the topic he brought upon himself.

“A poll about who is better.” Justin interrupted, rolling his eyes at the lost boy.

“Do I wanna know?” Zhengting groaned. And Justin smirked a little at his suffering.

“Not really but I’m still gonna tell you.” Justin said matter-of-factly. “It’s a poll over who is better for you, it’s kinda intense actually.”

Better for him?! What is that supposed to mean.

“We’re talking about a full Team Edward, Team Jacob, situation.” Justin laughed loudly, his evil little laughter echoing throughout the room.

“But in this case, it’s Team Kun and Team Yanjun.” Xinchun provided usefully.

Zhengting felt faint.

“I’m going to faint again.” He whispered with a shaky breath.

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Justin waved him off, though he still looked at him concerned.

“It sounds worse than it is?” Xinchun said as if it were helpful. It wasn’t.

“You guys keep saying that, but I don’t think you guys realize that it _is_ as bad as it sounds.” Zhengting said tonelessly. Xinchun winced slightly.

“Oh, come one! Don’t you want to know what the results are?” Justin smiled evilly.

“No!” Zhengting stopped him before he could say. “No, not really, please don’t.”

Justin chuckled but stayed quiet.

For a hot minute.

“It went viral–“

“How do people even know who we are!?” Zhengting cried out in irritation. Justin laughed.

“Chengcheng did post a picture with all three of you.” Xinchun said noncommittally.

“He also may or may not have put some extra selfies just for public reference.” Justin said under his breath.

“He wh _a_ t?!“Zhengting stuttered angrily.

“Point is!” Justin ignored him. “That this love triangle is public now, very public, so you can’t go around acting the way you do with both dudes.”

Zhengting glared at him.

“Don’t see what the public chose for you, fine, but at least figure out who you choose for yourself.” Xinchun said softly, putting a hand on Zhengting’s shoulder. “If not for you than for them. It’s not fair that they both have their hopes up.”

“You keep talking about their feelings as if they are a given.” Zhengting said, troubled. “Don’t you think you’re making them way deeper than they are?”

“We don’t really know much, Zhengting.” Xinchun shrugged. “Just what we see from an outsiders’ point of view and through others and you.”

“But we can figure out enough with just that.” Justin agreed. “And you should not act oblivious just because you are scared to face it. Stop dreaming so much about other things in hopes of avoiding your reality.”

“Since when are you two so fucking wise?” Zhengting said amazed.

“Since always, you just liked to think that as the eldest you’re the smartest.” Justin rolled his eyes. Xinchun laughed but nodded in agreement.

“You brats.” Zhengting said fondly before groaning loudly. "Why am I always messing things up? This has to be a new record.”

“Yeah, it is.” Justin nodded. “All the drama and game you never have normally is coming full-blown this summer.”

Zhengting covered his face with his hands. “Everybody must think I’m a player! No wonder Zhangjing dislikes me… I’m the worst!”

"Don't villainize yourself either." Xinchun warned the older boy. "Just try to clear things up."

"I have to fix things." Zhengting nodded solemnly. “I have to figure out how.”

The other two smiled briefly at his resolution.

“But first, I have to talk to them… don’t I?” Zhengting asked them, voice small, just a little scared. The younger boys nodded. “I need time to mentally prepare myself first!” He cried out.

“Like that worked out so well for you the first time.” Justin sighed.

“Just do what you can, Zhengting,” Xinchun cheered him on. “Take your time, but not too much like last time.”

“Or it’ll blow up in your face, _again_.” Justin teased.

“Right,” Zhengting nodded once to them. “ _Right_.” And once to himself.

When their break ended Zhengting stopped Justin before he disappeared again.

"Thanks Justin." Zhengting gave him a warm smile. Justin just stared at him surprised.

"For what of all the things I already do for you?" Justin smirked.

Zhengting laughed.

"For calling me out on my shit," He shrugged embarrassedly. "You're the only one who constantly does it, even if I get mad, and you always make sure that I can try being the best version of me."

"I just make sure that everyone gets to see the side of you that I know." Justin shrugged back bashfully.

Zhengting smiled warmly.

"Gosh, you are the cutest when you're flustered." He cooed, ruffling Justin's reddish hair. “What would I do without you! You’re the absolute bestest.”

"Hey! Watch the hair!" Justin yelled annoyed while clutching his little green cap. “And that’s not a word!”

Zhengting went back to work grinning from ear to ear when he remembered Justin's pleased smile at his words.

 

  

 

“What are you doing, you _idiot_?”

Xukun hissed angrily as his hand went up to rub at the sore spot on his back.

The culprit stared just as angrily back at him, standing in front of him, rubbing his hand from the hit he had given the older boy.

“What the _hell_ , Lin _kai_.” Xukun snapped at him, emphasizing the words wrong on purpose, annoyed already.

“I’m saying the same _thing_ , Xu _kun_.” Xiao Gui scoffed.

“Why are they fighting _now_ , Zi _yi_.” Bufan asked, imitating the way the other two said their sentences. Ziyi rolled his eyes.

“Go change, Bufan.”

“You didn’t say it right!” Bufan pouted before following Ziyi’s orders and started to unzip his brightly colored suit.

“You do realize that by running away from Zhengting you are literally giving Yanjun free reign?” Xiao Gui elaborated. Xukun tried to act surprised but he knew by then that Xiao Gui somehow always knew everything. “Justin told me.”

“Of course he did.” Xukun said.

“He told me that you got all huffy towards Zhengting and then basically ran away from him before he could answer you.”

“Maybe Justin should stop eavesdropping private conversations and telling everyone about it.”

“He didn’t tell everyone, just me.” Xiao Gui glared. “Because we are your friends and you’re being stupid, both of you.”

“You’re so nosy.” Xukun chuckled softly. “All of you are.”

“Did you see the poll?!” Bufan yelled from across the room, chortling like a fool.

Xukun deadpanned. Of course, he had, he had had staff members he never even knew about yelling encouragements throughout the entire day at every place he walked through, telling him they voted for him as if they were voting for president or something.

Unbelievable.

“Did you vote for yourself?” Ziyi smirked knowingly.

Xukun frowned, so what if he may have given himself a vote too? It was only a stupid twitter poll, not the real thing… “Shut up.”

“FYI, you’re losing.” Bufan said matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean I’m losing?” Xukun exclaimed. Last time he checked he was ahead!

“In real life, you dummy.” Xiao Gui rolled his eyes, he was wiping his eyes with makeup wipes and baby oil. Because eyeliner and all the shebang that the pirate’s makeup consisted of was a drag to take off with just makeup wipes.

“I panicked okay!” Xukun confessed. “It’s just that I don’t know how to be with him anymore…”

“Why? He is still the same guy inside the bear suit.” Ziyi shrugged.

“I know, but now that I can see his face, I don’t know what to say… I can’t focus anymore.” Xukun said embarrassedly, face going red when he remembered Zhengting and Zhengting’s cute face and how that cute face had been so close to Xukun’s a mere few hours ago.

“Wait a minute…” Xiao Gui said suddenly, giving him a delighted look. “Are you… are you _blushing_?”

Bufan and Xiao Gui then exploded with these annoying little giggles, even Ziyi looked amused. While Xukun looked murderous, though the effect was tampered a bit considering his cheeks were still bright pink.

“Since when do you get shy around anyone?” Ziyi laughed good-naturedly. “… It’s cause of the cute isn’t it?”

“We told you! We prepared you!” Bufan squealed in delight.

“Not enough!” Xukun whined. “Nobody told me he was so _pretty_. And he is blonde now too!”

“The blonde hair does elevate his fairy prince status.” Ziyi agreed.

“Fairy?” Xukun asked confused at the nickname. It fit, it really did actually, but it was also very random.

“Yanjun has been calling him that for weeks, it stuck.” Bufan shrugged. And Xukun’s mood shifted so obviously that Xiao Gui snorted loudly.

“You’re so dumb.” He laughed out. “But for real though, don’t be a jealous douche.”

“At least ask him how he is feeling.” Ziyi said, giving Xukun a disapproving look. Ziyi had already made his discontent about that known earlier.

“It’s too late in the day to ask that!” Xukun whined pitifully. “I’ve seen him twice already and, on both times, I went on a different tangent and got jealous because of Yanjun and ruined the moment!”

“You are so fucking whiny.” Xiao Gui complained.

“I wasn’t aware that you had a jealous streak.” Bufan said thoughtfully.

“Neither was I.” Xiao Gui agreed.

“He doesn’t,” Ziyi rolled his eyes. “This is the first time he has ever really gotten jealous over someone he likes.”

“Oooh…” The other two said in unison, moving their eyebrows playfully, giving him twin impish smirks.

Xukun laughed at their dumb antics.

“You can still ask him, Kun.” Ziyi shrugged, going back to the previous conversation. “The point is that he knows you worry.”

“But I mean, it doesn’t really matter if you don’t.” Bufan offered. “You were the one who was with Zhengting when he fainted and until he woke up, it’s not like he doesn’t care at all.” The last part was directed towards the other two.

“Still,” Ziyi pressed on. “Xukun wasn’t there when Yanjun basically ran up to Zhengting in the morning, he doesn’t get it.”

“Oh, I know.” Xiao Gui hissed. “That was some drama shit, like background music, everything in slow-motion, pretty people, very public, I think there were even sparkles— _ugh_ , disgusting.”

“And then Xukun appeared all hot and annoyed and it got even better!” Bufan said excitedly. “Yo, everyone in that room was invested.”

“Everyone on twitter _is_ invested.” Xiao Gui cackled.

“I’m so glad Chengcheng filmed it all.” Ziyi grinned mischievously. “I’m going to bring it up forever.”

“I really didn’t need a reminder of that video, or the details of what happened, thank you very much.” Xukun deadpanned.

 “The point is that Yanjun is also invested, dude.” Xiao Gui said. “And you are here running away from the problem.”

“Show your investment!” Bufan yelled, shaking Xukun by the shoulders.

“First of all, stop shaking me and get away from my face,” Xukun started, pulling out of Bufan’s grip. “Second, stop talking about Zhengting as if he were a job deal or something.”

“And third?” Xiao Gui asked hopefully.

“Third nothing, I have nothing, I don’t know nothing.” Xukun said haughtily.

Xiao Gui stopped to think for a moment, you could almost see the gears moving around in his head. “So… you _do_ know something?”

“What?” Bufan asked confused.

“He said he doesn’t know nothing, so he does not know nothing, but he knows something?” Xiao Gui explained just as confused.

“What?” Bufan asked again, even more confused than before.

Ziyi turned to look at Xukun was an exasperated look. “You just had to make them try to think.”

Xukun beamed.

“Anyways, just tell the boy you like him and —wham! — you got yourself a pretty boyfriend and you finally stop yapping about him to us.” Xiao Gui moved away quickly from the confusion, Bufan, on the other hand, was still murmuring the sentence to himself in confusion.

 “You say that as if it were that easy.” Xukun sighed.

“It is.” Ziyi sighed back. “You just make things difficult for yourself.”

“No, I don’t.” Xukun glared. “How can I confess to him, just like that, knowing that there is a big possibility that he may like Yanjun.”

“You don’t know that.” Ziyi argued.

“They’re just that, possibilities.” Xiao Gui added. “You worry too much.”

“But they are valid worries.” Bufan came back into the conversation. “He has reason to think about that, considering that Zhengting has not really stated outright who he prefers.”

“He has nothing to lose at this point, Bufan.” Ziyi said calmly. “At least then he actually tried to get the boy, at least that is ten times better than just stressing about everything. And stressing _us_.”

“And maybe Zhengting hasn’t said anything either because he isn’t aware that big man on campus over here is actually interested in him.” Xiao Gui gave Xukun a look.

“How could he not know!?” Bufan asked incredulously.

“Maybe because Prince Charming here has been avoiding him lately, but also! Xukun has been lowkey flirting with Zhengting since the start but then the next second trying to make him jealous by acting all lovey-dovey with Cinderella."

“Woaaah, where is this conversation going now?” Bufan asked surprised. “This is uncharted territory for me bro.”

“I have not!” Xukun snapped peeved.

“You totally have!” Xiao Gui snapped back. “Before Zhengting and his boys appeared you and Meiqi were apathetic at best, but since they arrived you could not be more princely or charming with her. I didn’t even know you could be like that!”

“Okay, I have to agree with that,” Ziyi admitted. “You suddenly got really into being your face character since Zhengting.”

“Meiqi and I have always been good friends.” Xukun defended himself.

“Yeah but you have never really had much chemistry when in-character, you guys didn’t even care before about all the romantic stuff, now you won’t stop doing it.”

“It’s my job!” Xukun frowned.

“Sure, it is,” Xiao Gui admitted. “Didn’t seem to motivate you much before Zhengting.”

“I heard Zhengting is a big fan of Disney movies.” Bufan whispered conspiratorially.

“I heard he wanted to be a face character, more specifically, _a prince_.” Xiao Gui whispered back.

“I heard someone wanted to impress him with his job.” Ziyi added teasingly.

“I heard someone is beating all of you up in the parking lot later.” Xukun glared. The other three burst out laughing while Xukun rolled his eyes.

“But for real though,” Xiao Gui laughed giddily. “You have also not been very upfront with what you’re feeling.”

“So you can’t put all the blame on Zhengting,” Ziyi said pointedly looking at Bufan.

“Well!” Bufan tried to say something else, but just turned to Xukun. “I don’t know what else to say, man, throw me a bone here.”

Xukun smiled appreciatively.

“It’s okay Bufan, they’re actually right.” Xukun agreed with the other two. “I’m guilty of trying to show off and get a reaction out of Zhengting.”

Bufan’s jaw dropped, staring at Xukun with the most incredibly offended face ever.

“Here I am, on _your_ side, _defending_ you, and you throw it back _in my face_!” Bufan cried out dramatically.

Xukun cracked up, raising his arms defensively.

“In my defense!” Xukun spoke up. “It was hard trying to read the interactions with him because I could never see his face, so the only thing I had to go by on was his voice.”

“Which was expressive on its own.” Ziyi raised his eyebrows, unimpressed with his friend.

“You played around too much, you dork.” Xiao Gui said.

“That was before I found out that Yanjun had anything to do with Zhengting.” Xukun tsked.

“Well now you know, and you’re not doing anything about it.” Xiao Gui yelled irritated.

“I will!” Xukun yelled back.

“You better.” Xiao Gui huffed.

“I just need to be able to talk when I see him.” Xukun continued sheepishly.

“For fuck's sake,” Xiao Gui threw his hands up in disbelief. “If you lose your guy because you don’t know how to be with him and his beauty than you don’t deserve him.”

“Hey!” Xukun frowned. Xiao Gui patted his arm to show that he was just teasing.

“Just stating some truths.” He shrugged.

“What do I do...?” Xukun slumped down, staring at the details in his jacket, realizing he hadn’t started to change out of his costume just yet.

“Go look for him and say something nice–” Ziyi offered with a smile.

“–and give him something yummy!” Bufan added meaningfully.

“–as long as you don’t let him leave the park feeling like you don’t care about him, anything will do, Kun.” Ziyi finished.

“I do care.” Xukun frowned again.

“We know you do, bro, _everybody_ does.” Ziyi chuckled.

“Except Zhengting,” Bufan piped in thoughtfully. “Apparently.”

“I’ll go talk to him before he leaves.” Xukun nodded.

“If you don’t finish up soon, you’ll probably not catch him.” Xiao Gui tease, he was already in his normal clothing, cause, unlike Xukun, he could multitask.

Xukun looked shocked at his outfit for a second before practically ripping it off him.

“This is all your fault! Why did you decide to give me this talk at this time? Knowing how distracted we get when we try to talk seriously.” Xukun groaned, head stuck behind his shirt.

Ziyi helped him untangle while Xiao Gui looked up from his phone unimpressed, just for a moment before going back to texting something.

“Sure, blame us who literally had to convince you to do what you’re about to do.” He mocked gently.

“Go for it, furry boy!” Bufan clapped happily.

“How many times do I have to tell you– I’m not a furry!”

“Not anymore you aren’t.” Xiao Gui grinned. “Considering you finally saw Zhengting’s face and still look at him as if he made the stars or some romantic shit like that.”

“Doesn’t that saying go, ‘he looked at him like he _hung_ the stars and moon’?” Ziyi asked curiously. Xiao Gui made a face.

“I honestly have no idea, I’m not good with metaphors.”

“Aren’t you a rapper?” Bufan laughed boastfully. “Rappers always use metaphors.”

“Yeah, but I rap about how rich and better than you I am, not about disgustingly romantic stuff like love metaphors or Xukun’s thoughts.”

“I _swear_ –“

“That is _not_ a metaphor–“

 

  

 

“He hates me!”

“No, he doesn’t.”

“He doesn’t even want to look at me!”

“Yes, he does.”

“He’ll never talk to me again!”

“He is coming over to talk to you right this instant.” Justin informed him, not stopping his avid texting. Good to feel appreciated.

“He–“Zhengting continued with his ugly fake-crying before stopping abruptly. “He is what?!”

Justin and Zhengting had been standing outside of the dressing rooms for a couple minutes now, waiting for Chengcheng while the others went ahead to Wenjun’s car —which was strange in itself considering Chengcheng never took that long to change, but whatever— and the entire time Zhengting kept whining about his favorite topic of the summer — Xukun.

Which speaking of…

“Hey,” Xukun smiled awkwardly, “Can I have Zhengting for a moment.”

“Have him forever for all I care.” Justin murmured.

“Justin!” Zhengting whisper-shouted.

“I’ll meet you out front.” Justin said before turning away and meeting up with Chengcheng who had just walked out of the building. Chengcheng saluted them cheerily before skipping away, like the dork he was.

“Justin…” Zhengting whispered desperately after the boy before taking a deep breath and turning to face Xukun. Beautiful, handsome, gorgeous Xukun— damn could he make sweatpants look good. “Heey… again.”

Xukun smiled softly. Looking abashed but without any of the troubling emotions he carried around earlier in the day.

That was good. That was way better, a definite improvement from before.

“I just… I wanted to apologize to you.” Xukun said anxiously.

“What?” Zhengting asked surprised. That was not what he was expecting the conversation to begin with at all.

“For being so inconsiderate and rude to you today.” Xukun admitted seriously.

Zhengting felt himself fall deeper into the confusion he felt. “You haven’t been that to me Xukun, don’t worry about that.”

Cold, yes. Rude, no. Xukun would never be purposefully mean to Zhengting, he felt that he could confidently say that about Xukun at least.

“No, I have, Zhengting,” Xukun furrowed his eyebrows, adorably. “I should have asked you right away how you have been after what happened to you but I didn’t and I felt really bad about that.

“You didn’t have to–“ Zhengting interrupted already panicked.

“No, but I did have to.” Xukun insisted. “I was so worried, but I never said anything because my timing was never right. And I felt so regretful about that and ashamed that I didn’t even have the guts to go up to you today during working hours.”

Zhengting felt his soul ascend.

He was ascending.

The cutest boy in the world was worried about him and thought about him all day. His day was made, again. Or night… whatever. He was elated.

“–So I kept bothering Ziyi and everybody to update me on how you were doing and I think they are all super annoyed with me because of that.” Xukun continued his cute rambling, at this point he was doing all these random hand gestures that only made him look even cuter and more flustered as he kept explaining Zhengting what he felt.

Zhengting blinked at that, “You did that?”

“Yeah…” Xukun admitted sheepishly. “Sounds kinda creepy when I say it out loud though.” He winced.

“No, it’s sorta cute actually.” Zhengting smiled shyly.

“I just wanted to actually ask you for myself…” Xukun stuttered. “H-how are you feeling?”

Zhengting felt warmth burst across his chest, he would be worried about the feeling if he didn’t know it was only psychological— his body wasn’t failing him, it was only Xukun being adorable.

“I’m better,” Zhengting played along sweetly. “Much better, actually. Nobody will ever let me live it down and won’t ever let me get close to what I did at the beginning of the week.”

“That’s good,” Xukun nodded. “It’s for your best.”

“Yeah, I know.” Zhengting acknowledged. “It does do the job on making me feel bad about what happened though.”

“I can imagine.” Xukun sympathized. “But then again…”

Zhengting pouted at the implication. “I know what you’re not saying, and I don’t need you judging me too, Kun.” He whined.

Xukun couldn’t help the grin the broke across his face.

“Sorry.” He teased, not sounding sorry at all. “By the way, I wanted to give you this.”

He passed Zhengting something small. Damn Bufan, the food stands were closed at this hour but thanks to Ziyang, Bufan’s friend that worked in the gift shop, he managed to get something nicepretty quickly.

“A keychain?” Zhengting said excitedly. “A Duffy keychain!?”

Xukun smiled proudly.

Duffy was a popular mascot so most of his merch sold out really fast but thanks to Ziyang being the best he managed to snatch one beforehand— so what if it was originally for Ling Chao aka Duffy’s number one fan? Now it was the actual Duffy’s property.

“Oh Xukun,” Zhengting blushed. “You didn’t have to, thank you.”

“I don’t want us to ever lose the friendship we have over some stupid misunderstanding Zhengting.” Xukun said solemnly, watching Zhengting happily hook his new keychain in his keys and pocketing them.

“Me neither.” Zhengting said, looking up equally solemn. This was meaningful shit. He had to take it seriously.

“But I do think we should talk about what happened the other day…”

And there it was.

The bomb.

Another explosion in the minefield that was Zhengting’s life.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Somebody piped up, somebody that was most definitely not Zhengting or Xukun. But Zhengting knew who it was and now he wanted to die.

Lin Yanjun.

Of fucking course.

Another boom.

Because Zhengting could never take a break.

Xukun froze mid-sentence and turned to look at the other prince.

“Yanjun,” Xukun smiled tightly. “Hi, we’re just talking about something.”

“Cool.” Yanjun nodded, pondering a moment before continuing, smiling sharply. “Mind if I cut in? I was also talking about something to Zhengting this morning and didn’t get to wrap up.”

Zhengting was a pretty dramatic guy. That was a given. But mostly, it was because he was someone who panicked way too much over things and tended to overreact. He could acknowledge that about himself, he admitted it. This, however, was one of the few times where he knew he was not overreacting. It was too much for his poor nerves.

The panic must have shown on his face because both Xukun and Yanjun stopped their weird posturing to give him amused looks.

“Or maybe, I can talk to him tomorrow.” Yanjun smiled warmly, cheeks dimpling beautifully. Holy fuck, Zhengting was sweating.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Xukun agreed with a little grin. “It’s getting late anyhow.”

“That’s true.” Yanjun nodded. Both boys gave each other a knowing look before laughing it off.

Zhengting’s head was spinning with the rollercoaster of emotions he had gone through in the last five minutes. He was not appreciating the other two boys’ amusement.

“Yeah...” He laughed awkwardly. “Besides, my boys are waiting for me outside.”

“Your boys?” Yanjun smirked. “You have other boys besides us?”

Zhengting choked.

Xukun coughed, surprised at Yanjun’s boldness.

“You know what I’m talking about!” Zhengting cried out completely red-faced. Yanjun laughed going to ruffle his hair to which Zhengting squawked indignantly.

Xukun watched their interaction feeling a little detached, like a third wheel, he thought sadly, the realization jarring. He then remembered Xiao Gui and Ziyi’s words and acted without thinking —to show that he was invested.

He grabbed Zhengting’s —pretty, pale, soft— hand and pulled him close to Xukun’s side. Yanjun gave him an impressed look. Zhengting looked dizzy. How cute.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” Xukun said smugly. Yanjun muffled a laugh.

“You do that, Xukun.” Yanjun grinned. Damn those dimples were distracting…

Xukun figured out that Yanjun was smiling way more than he needed to because he liked to show off his dimples, he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Cheeky bastard.

“Wouldn’t want our fairy prince to get lost.” Yanjun said softly, knocking his knuckles softly against Zhengting’s jaw.

“He does have that tendency.” Xukun agreed.

Zhengting was glad in some way that they got along so well with each other despite the underlying tension they also gave off every now and then.

But he seriously had to get going.

“So yeah!” Zhengting beamed at them. “I really do have to go.” He went to walk away but he found he couldn’t move from his place as his hand was still in Xukun’s grip.

How embarrassing.

Xukun gave him this half-smirk half-smile thing that made Zhengting’s heart go pit-a-pat. That, next to Yanjun’s general face stressed him out.

He was not strong enough to deal with that level of attractiveness from either of them.

“I said I’d walk you.” Xukun laughed brightly.

“Right, well, I go this way.” Yanjun said, pointing to the opposite way Xukun and Zhengting were going to.

“We go that way.” Xukun informed him, looking mighty pleased.

“I gathered.” Yanjun smile fell off for a split second before coming back full force. “I’ll see you later, darling.”

And then!

 _Then_!

He leaned close to Zhengting and _pecked_ his cheek.

 _While_ Xukun was holding Zhengting’s hand.

In the full view of the dressing rooms.

Why did everything have to happen either inside or outside the dressing rooms? He prayed to god and anything holy that Chengcheng really was gone and that nobody saw them. He didn’t need any more rumors or photos or videos or anything on any social media ever.

Yanjun stepped back with the most satisfied look on his face, patted Xukun’s cheek in a patronizing manner, and walked away, lifting a hand up as if to wave, in the coolest way possible.

How- how did he do that so effortlessly? Zhengting wished he was a smooth as Yanjun was.

While all those thoughts were happening inside Zhengting’s mind, outside he was frozen in shock with a very unappealing red on his face. He looked at Xukun out of the corner of his eyes and he too looked frozen in shock, though the offended look on his face was definitely not on Zhengting’s.

Oh shit, everyone was totally right. He was a player!

Xukun cleared his throat, squeezing Zhengting’s hand unconsciously. Finally remembering that they were still holding hands, he let it go suddenly, flushing brightly.

Zhengting’s flustered expression gave way to a fond one. Of course, Xukun would be extremely bold when in front of Yanjun but the shyest baby when left alone with Zhengting. As if he weren’t lovable enough.

“Let’s go?” He offered nervously. Xukun looked at him from under his eyelashes and gave a tiny nod.

They walked silently until they were almost at the parking lot. Zhengting’s thoughts going by in quick succession, how could so many things happen in such a short timespan… he’ll never know.

“I still want to talk about what happened Zhengting…” Xukun finally spoke up. “But not today. I get the feeling you are still not very comfortable with the idea and I respect it and it never really angered me, it just confused me a lot. Whatever your reasons are I hope you’ll tell me one day but it’s okay if it’s not today.”

“Xukun…” Zhengting whispered in awe. What a softy! The nicest boy! How did Zhengting manage to meet him and get his attention?

“We’ve had enough deep conversations as it is,” Xukun whispered softly. “Don’t want to overwhelm your pretty little head any more than it already is.”

“Thank you!” Zhengting beamed obliviously. “You’re so thoughtful, Xukun, I don’t deserve that sort of consideration after what I did.”

“Sure you do, you’re a good guy, Zhengting.” Xukun bumped shoulders with his. “I know that whatever your reasonings are, they are harmless.”

“Then… that means we’re okay?” Zhengting asked hopefully.

“We will always be okay Zhengting.” Xukun retorted warmly just as they walked into the parking lot.

“Hurry up already!” He heard Justin yelled from across the lot, leaning against the car.

“I wanna get home before my show starts!” Chengcheng threw himself out the window from inside the car.

Zhengting rolled his eyes fondly, stopping a few feet away from Wenjun’s car. “I gotta go.”

“So I’ve heard.” Xukun snickered.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Zhengting asked with a hopeful tone to his voice.

“Of course.” Xukun agreed. “Good night, Zhengting.

“Goodnight Kunkun.”

This time Xukun was the one who watched him walk away, but unlike before, this time both boys were left with a lighter heart.

 

 

 

“You good?” Justin asked, looking up from his phone, as he waited for Zhengting in front of Wenjun’s car. Zhengting smiled sweetly at the younger boy —looking briefly back to where Xukun was already climbing into a cool expensive car— before slapping him repeatedly on his arm.

“Ow! Hey what’s that for?” Justin cried out, protecting his arms. Ignoring the cackling that could be heard inside the car, the loudest ones coming from Chengcheng and Zeren.

“That’s for abandoning me twice today!” Zhengting yelled annoyed.

“You are very welcome,” Justin huffed, rubbing his arm. “If it weren’t for me you would not have the guts to actually stay and talk it out.”

“Talk it out?” Zhengting said loudly. “Leaving me alone this morning was extremely uncalled for.”

“In my defense,” Justin pointed out. “I left you alone with Yanjun, not my fault that Xukun appeared and then you were cornered.”

“Yeah well, just right now you left me with Xukun and Yanjun appeared out of nowhere.”

Justin gaped. “He did not.”

“He did!” Zhengting whined.

“This is gold…” A tiny, excited whisper could be heard behind them.

Zhengting turned to his left, weirded out by the creepy interruption that came in the form of Fan Chengcheng leaning out the window, tapping away on his phone to something Zhengting didn’t even want to know.

“You are the creepiest.” Zhengting informed him with a stank face before pushing Chengcheng’s face back into the car.

Chengcheng let out an indignant noise before turning an accusing finger to Justin. “Because of you, I lost precious shipping material!”

Justin shrugged uncaringly. “As long as _my_ suffering ends, I don’t regret it.”

“You monster…” Chengcheng shook his head in disbelief.

“Did my suffering end?” Justin ignored him and turned to give Zhengting puppy eyes. “Please tell me it did?”

Zhengting avoided eye-contact and Justin’s face fell quickly, he understood without words.

“Next time I’m going to let Chengcheng stalk the hell out of you without holding back.” He glared at Zhengting in exasperation. “For losing your opportunity today you will be everywhere on Twitter all year.”

“It’s not my fault! They bombarded me!” Zhengting pouted.

Justin hummed unimpressed.

Zhengting rolled his eyes at his indifference and groaned as he opened the car door.

“I feel exhausted.” Zhengting huffed before sitting down and sprawling all over Xinchun who was sitting next to him. “I’ve talked with so many people today, I feel really tired.”

“I can imagine.” Xinchun agreed while running his hand through Zhengting’s hair.

“At least things are good between you and lover boy again.” Chengcheng said cheerily from the backseat.

“Yeah, I guess.” Zhengting smiled softly. “Things are better.”

Wenjun smiled at him through the rearview mirror, “That’s great, Zhengting.”

“See?” Quanzhe yawned out sleepily. “We told you it wasn’t going to be as bad as you thought.”

“Yeah, yeah, I was wrong, you were right,” Zhengting rambled. “Now go to sleep you little hamster.”

“Move over.” Justin pouted in annoyance, snuggling close to Zhengting and Xinchun. Wenjun started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, mumbling under his breath how he was going to leave Chengcheng behind if he didn’t stop whining about not being part of the cuddling sessions. Zeren laughed and patted his arm, before turning around in his place in the front passenger seat to yell at Chengcheng to shut up.

Zhengting huffed out a laugh from his place between Xinchun and Justin, he really appreciated his stupid group of friends, especially during the end of days like these, where he knew he could always run back and hide with them.

He really hoped that tomorrow was not the day where he had to deal with Xukun and Yanjun at the same time again. Today was only a brief moment but Zhengting’s heart and mind would not be able to deal with it for an extended time period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know guys, they are still not together but they are getting there  
> Originally this chapter was going to end up with them together but I have already noticed that I am shit at not only not updating on time during school but at sticking with the amount of chapters I say I will do... So I had to split things so it would not be as rushed as everything already is lmao  
> And that is how an extra chapter was made!  
> So yes, now there will be ten chapters and a prologue, I really want to finish this fic before I go back to school or else I'll end up updating until spring break or something lol so hopefully I'll update better these three weeks (pray for me!)  
> As usual, this is unbetaed so please do point out the mistakes you may see! thank you for reading! ^o^


	9. shining, shimmering, splendid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is I, after much less time than before, but still with more lies lmao  
> So yeah this chapter is way longer than the last one unlike what I thought it would but since some said they were okay with long chapters than here you go!  
> Enjoy!

Things were still awkward with Xukun.

But that had a lot to do with how much time they got to spend now that Zhengting could hang around the break room without the Duffy mask on.

It had been a week since The Attack — that’s how Zhengting referred to the day when both Xukun and Yanjun personally attacked him. He had spent the day after and the next few days anxious out of his mind wondering when he would be attacked again. But as of yet, nothing has happened. Don’t get him wrong, he has spoken to both guys, just not at the same time anymore. They seem to be leaving Zhengting to gather his wits, thankfully.

Didn’t mean he was in the clear, however.

Xukun and Zhengting could still barely speak more than five sentences to each other before turning into the two most awkward dorks ever. It was terrible! What once was a sweet friendship and hours of whispered conversations now was awkward buddies and searching looks.

It was strangely complex, trying to make their relationship turn normal again.

 

  

 

When Zhengting entered the break room that day with Quanzhe, he was immediately aware of Xukun sitting with Ziyi on one of the couches — his first instinct was to duck, hide, and run, but Quanzhe dragged him in before he could try.

Quanzhe his little angel was spending too much time with the devil couple.

They went and got their lunch, and Zhengting wanted to act like everything was fine and cool and collected and shit. Of course, sweet, innocent, _evil_ Quanzhe would change that.

Quanzhe practically pushed him in Xukun's direction and Zhengting knew he was already blushing.

Lately, he felt even more on edge than before when he was hiding from the younger boy because now he knew he had a talk on hold with Xukun. A talk he honestly was not excited for.

Zhengting was the king of avoidance, ignoring the problem until it went away was his M.O. Which is why his entire summer job had been and is a mess.

Xukun had his back to them but Ziyi had noticed Zhengting and Quanzhe since they walked in. Why did Ziyi have to look so amused every time he watched Zhengting stumble through his life?

Xukun noticed that Ziyi was looking at something behind him and he too turned. And Zhengting's fight or flight button beeped the fuck up. Quanzhe (the little devil) just grabbed Zhengting's arm tightly, as if knowing what he was thinking.

"H-hey." Zhengting said after a brief awkward silence. He tried to raise the arm not holding his lunch in a just as awkward wave, but it was the hand Quanzhe was tightly latched onto so the movement was aborted rather quickly.

"Hey..." Xukun whispered, staring very intently on Zhengting's face. Which made him vaguely uncomfortable— okay, lie, it made him **very** uncomfortable. It had been more than a week since his face reveal, why did Xukun have to look at him as if his face were an abstract painting, as if he looked hard enough at Zhengting he would figure something out.

"Hey..." Zhengting repeated dumbly. They should really learn a new greeting, all these ‘heys’ were getting honestly annoying slash repetitive.

They just stared at each other for a while. Or more like Xukun drank in all of Zhengting’s features while Zhengting stared at Xukun's right ear.

It was a very cute ear.

"So, yeah, hey to you guys too." Quanzhe interjected at last. Bless the evil boy!

"You guys want to sit with us?" Ziyi asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah!" Xukun answered for him quickly, wincing a little at his eagerness. Quanzhe smirked slyly and pulled a timid Zhengting to sit down next to Xukun.

The lovebirds grew incredibly quiet, entirely too aware of each other. Zhengting looked down at his lunch bag, clenched tightly in his hands, he didn't even want to eat anymore with the knot in his tummy.

Then Xukun offered him a baby carrot.

"Do you–? Would you like one?" He smiled adorably. Zhengting smiled back.

"Sure... Um, thanks." He said softly.

Xukun beamed.

Ziyi and Quanzhe looked at each other from over their friends’ heads and smiled knowingly.

After 'breaking the ice', things got a little less tense but still, Zhengting didn't feel like talking much because he felt there was nothing he could contribute to the conversation.

"Want some?" Xukun offered again. He kept trying to feed Zhengting all his lunch. It was kinda cute but Zhengting felt embarrassed that Xukun kept watching him eat (that did not mean that he refused the food though).

Zhengting turned to look at him and came face to face with...

"Nongfu?" He whispered surprised.

"Spring Vitamin Water." Xukun nodded proudly.

"You like it?" Zhengting asked amused.

Xukun unconsciously made a face but tried to smile. "Yeah! It's... Refreshing?" He said shyly.

Zhengting couldn't help but laugh at that answer. Xukun did not know what he did to make him laugh but he felt warmth fill his chest at the sight of a laughing Zhengting.

"I can't believe you like it." Zhengting snorted cutely.

"Don't you?" Xukun asked curiously, smiling at Zhengting's cuteness.

"Not really," Zhengting admitted sheepishly. Xukun's smile slipped off.

"What do you mean?" Xukun asked confused. "But you were the one who gave me one before."

Zhengting smiled sheepishly.

"That was before I actually tasted it." Zhengting pursed his lips. "When I did, I felt really bad for giving you one that one time."

"B-but–" Xukun stuttered. "You even wrote that it was refreshing!"

Zhengting giggled.

"Because that's what Yixing said to me." He admitted.

Xukun froze, "Yixing?"

"Yeah," Zhengting nodded. "He told me that you would really like them."

Xukun deadpanned.

He counted to ten, trying to not get annoyed at Yixing for messing with him through Zhengting.

"Zhengting," Xukun said seriously, looking at the boy in the eye. "Never listen to what Yixing tells you."

Zhengting smiled. "I'll keep that in mind from now on."

Xukun looked at the water bottle dissatisfied.

To think he has been drinking that shit for a month straight —even through all his friends teasing— because of his cutie, only for it to be all because of his idiot of a 'boss'.

"Want some?" Zhengting offered him sweet tea with a small smile. 

Xukun smiled back.

"Yeah, I’d love to."

Ziyi and Quanzhe kept talking between them, giving them their time to stay in their little bubble. Zhengting didn't even know since when those two were such good friends to have the conversation going for so long. But he felt thankful to them. Even to his evil baby.

For the rest of the break, Zhengting and Xukun kept sharing their lunch, sharing few words but many glances.

But even though the stilted conversations and the awkward silences, nobody could take away the shy smiles from their faces and the soft blushes on their cheeks.

Zhengting felt giddy finally being next to Xukun after everything. And for things to still be relatively the same.

Hopefully, they could only move forward from then.

 

  

 

“I’m floating…” Zhengting said dreamily, dancing around break room number two.

Yanchen stared amusedly at him from his place on the sofa, Zhou Rui rolled his eyes good-naturedly as he too watched him, Zhenghao just sipped on his juice box like the cutie that he was.

“Can you sit down?” Zhou Rui finally said after the fifth time that Zhengting circled their couch.

“But you don’t _get_ it, Zhou Rui!” Zhengting pouted, stopping in front of him. “We had lunch together!”

“Good for you, dude.” The older male grinned. “Now settle down, you’re making me dizzy.”

Zhengting pouted deeper before listening to him and sitting down next to Haohao, promptly curling around to younger kid.

“You should be happy for this, Zhou Rui,” Yanchen grinned. “Aren’t you team Kun?”

Zhengting looked at them scandalized.

“Everybody in this room is team Kun, Yanchen, don’t be ridiculous.” Zhou Rui rolled his eyes.

Zhengting gasped even more scandalized.

“You’re part of that?!” He cried tiredly, throwing his head back against the couch.

“Of course we are,” Zhou Rui sassed. “Who isn’t?”

“Haohao, even you?” Zhengting asked the younger boy, who just smiled timidly and nodded.

“I feel… betrayed.” Zhengting whined loudly.

“Betrayed?!” Zhou Rui yelled offended. “We’re obviously on the winning side! The only side.”

“We’re on the cool side.” Yanchen agreed, pumping a fist in the air,

“Cool.” Zhenghao repeated.

“Though Yanjun is probably the coolest of those two.” Zhou Rui considered it out loud.

“True…” Yanchen muttered. Zhengting just stared in disbelief.

“Nope, no, uh-uh, not going into this discussion, no siree.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” Zhou Rui rolled his eyes fondly.

“Do you know who you’re talking to?!” Zhengting asked loudly.

“Honestly,” Yanchen nodded laughing. “You- “

But before he could continue, they heard loud footsteps getting louder by the second down the hallway.

Zhengting could recognize that sound anywhere. He sighed.

“Zhu Zhengting!” A betrayed voice yelled in the middle of the break room.

“Sup Justin!” Zhou Rui greeted.

Justin waved briefly before looking at where Zhengting was hugging Zhenghao still. Chengcheng appeared behind him gasping before narrowing his eyes. Zhengting sighed even louder when he knew what they would do.

As casually as they could, which wasn’t much, they threw themselves in Zhengting’s direction, Chengcheng managing to get in between Zhengting and Zhenghao. Hao just went along, happy to get away from Zhengting’s stifling embrace, Zhengting, however, cried out for him dramatically as he was drowned by two fluffballs.

“Hao, nooo!” Could be heard under layers of green and blue costumes.

Yanchen laughed at his peril, the other two looked incredibly amused, which Zhengting didn’t appreciate at all.

“Get off!” He yelled, pushing at Chengcheng and Justin simultaneously.

“No!” They yelled back.

“You didn’t go to our break room!” Justin yelled accusingly.

“We were looking for you all over the place!” Chengcheng complained.

“I didn’t know you had a break at this time!” Zhengting continued wiggling around trying to free himself from their punishing embrace but they just hugged tighter.

“Lies.” They yelled in unison like the creepy twins they were. This is why he should have never let them spend so much time together!

“Help!” Zhengting cried out towards Yanchen who just laughed again and made no move to help him. That traitor. He loved to watch Zhengting suffer at the hands of his kids.

“Let him breathe.” Xinchun walked in a few seconds after, calmly. As expected of one of the only normal ones in the group.

“He abandoned us.” Justin said irritated, tightening his arms around Zhengting’s neck even more. This wasn’t a hug anymore, it had passed that stage a few wiggles before, now it was full on chokehold.

“I’m sorry! I forgot!” Zhengting finally gave in, kicking his feet out petulantly.

They instantly let go.

“Now, was that so hard?” Justin asked sweetly. Zhengting glared at him while rubbing his neck. At least Chengcheng stuck to hugging his waist.

“You guys are the worst.” Zhengting pouted, “So are you guys!” He turned to point at the other three who had just stood by and watched.

“No way in hell I’d get in the way of you and those two.” Zhou Rui shrugged nonchalantly.

“Same.” Yanchen agreed. “I don’t have a death sentence.”

“They’d run me over.” Zhenghao added, shuddering at the thought.

“Don’t be overdramatic.” Justin waved the thought away, though nobody looked too convinced at that.

 “Why is break today so important?” Zhengting asked, still put out.

“It is the first time since ever that all seven of us have it at the same time!” Chengcheng yelled excitedly, shaking Zhengting’s shoulders.

“Oh…?” Zhengting smiled. They saw each other every morning and every night, why were they so excited over lunch break?

“We have to go nooow!” Chengcheng whined while pulling at Zhengting’s arm. Zhengting looked at Yanchen over Chengcheng’s head. Yanchen just grinned and shrugged, as if to say ‘what-can-you-do’.

Zhengting sighed again at his morons before waving at the rest of the guys in the room and allowing himself to be pulled away by the dumb dorky duo that was Justin and Chengcheng, with Xinchun walking calmly beside them.

 

  

 

“Okay. This is an intervention.” Zhengting said solemnly at the other six at the end of the day.

They were in one of the dressing rooms, surrounded by fur costumes and lockers. Half of them were finished changing and the other half was still in the process, but they all stopped and turned to look at Zhengting, who stood in the center of the room with his hands on his hips.

“We kinda guessed after you yelled ‘intervention!’ in the middle of the break room earlier.” Zeren snickered.

“Well, that was obviously the intro of this talk, you ass.” Justin pushed Zeren on the shoulder.

“Anyways, who is this intervention for?” Chengcheng asked, already laughing at the poor fool who got talked down at. He was one of the ones who had finished changing already, he was laying down on a bunch of fur costumes that served as a makeshift bed.

“For everyone.” Zhengting motioned to all of them.

Chengcheng stared in shock at him, mouth still open in a teasing laugh.

“Pardon?” He raised his eyebrows, hand daintily raised to his chest.

“Guys... I think we are too dependent on each other?” Zhengting asked hesitatingly.

“Whaaat?” Chencheng drawled out.

“Lies.” Justin shook his head in denial.

“We are not.” Chengcheng added with a pout.

The other four gave each other knowing looks and Zhengting sighed.

“We sorta are though?” Xinchun spoke up uncertainly.

“Speak for yourself I am perfectly independent.” Zeren gave his two cents, raising his chin with a ‘humph’. “At least I have friends outside of this group.”

“Gasp!” Chengcheng said appalled. Justin literally gasped.

“Did you seriously just say gasp?” Wenjun laughed.

“Traitor!” Justin yelled to Zeren while Chengcheng pouted at Wenjun.

“Hey!” Zeren yelled back, squinting at him.

“Seee!?” Zhengting interrupted. “This exactly why we need an intervention, because anytime anybody shows signs that they have friends outside of our group, everybody else freaks out.”

“No we don’t.” Justin scoffed crossing his arms.

“You literally called Xinchun a traitor this morning because he waved at Dinghao.” Quanzhe pointed out with a judging scowl.

“You literally pushed Dinghao off the plank yesterday.” Xinchun added unimpressed.

“I have _literally_ no idea what you’re talking about.” Justin said ignorantly, looking away pointedly.

“Justin…” Wenjun said slowly, furrowing his eyebrows worriedly.

“He shouldn’t have been standing there.” Justin shrugged.

“Justin!” Wenjun gasped.

“It’s cause they are _both_ traitors!” Chengcheng defended him.

“Chengcheng!” Wenjun gasped, turning to look at the other boy too. Zeren turned to glare at Chengcheng, raising his fist. “Zeren!”

“See!?” Zhengting repeated, waving a hand in their direction and giving Wenjun a pointed look. “You didn’t believe when I told you! But look how they react! They’re too possessive!”

“No we aren’t!”

“We can talk to other people and still be best friends with you, you can’t just try to sabotage our other friendships.” Xinchun explained slowly.

“Of course we can!”

“Chengcheng!” It was Zhengting’s turn to gasp.

“Oh sure, now you think like them.” Justin huffed annoyed at Zhengting.

“Yeah, weren’t you also the same person who would tell us to stop them from abandoning us?” Chengcheng sassed.

Wenjun turned to raise his eyebrows at Zhengting and Zhengting choked.

“That was before!” He defended himself.

“Before what?” Wenjun asked unimpressed.

“Before he started dating Xukun!” Justin threw him under the bus.

“Hey! We’re not dating…” Zhengting trailed off blushing.

“Yet.” Quanzhe piped up informatively.

Zhengting looked at him defeated. “Not you too!”

“I think we should all try to spread out a bit.” Wenjun said loudly.

All six of them gasped aghast. 

“Not like, stop hanging out with each other or anything!” He said quickly. “But like, maybe start hanging out with other people a bit more often? Be more independent?” He smiled awkwardly, looking at Zhengting in approval.

Zhengting nodded, reassuring him enough to keep speaking.

“Quanzhe already has a little group of friends with Zhou Rui and Zhenghao and the other attendants, Xinchun with Dinghao and Yanjun and his group, Zhengting has Xukun’s group and almost everyone, Zeren has his Mickey crew and Yanchen, I get along pretty good with Zhangjing-“

“Zhangjing?!”          

“And the other Disney prince and princesses,” He went on as if nothing. “The only ones who refuse to branch out... Is, well, you two?

Everybody turned to look at the pair cautiously as they stayed quiet at the admission. Before they exploded in outrage.

“I have never felt more attacked before.” Justin sniffed petulantly.

“I’m gonna cry!” Chengcheng cried out dramatically.

“Oh come on you big babies.” Zhengting laughed and went to hug them both.

“You get along with everybody,” Zhengting comforted them, giving them little pats. “You talk to everybody here and everybody actually really likes you two, even when you’re being a bunch of annoying babies.” He informed matter-of-factly. “It’s just you two who don’t want to consider them friends.”

“I don’t see the point.” Justin shrugged.

“Yeah, we have you guys, we don’t need more friends.” Chengcheng nodded.

“Acquaintances are just fine for a summer job.” Justin admitted.

“Justin...” Zhengting frowned.

“At the end of the summer we will still have you guys. We know we will. The same way we know that after this summer we will probably never see or talk to anybody else from here ever again.” The younger boy explained as if it were obvious.

“That’s not true.” Quanzhe also frowned.

“That’s not how friendships work.” Zeren explained patiently. “Even if you don’t see them as much as you see us —that won’t mean you’re not friends.”

“There are friends for everything, some are closer, and you see more often like us,” Zhengting said pointing to the other four. “However, that doesn’t mean that the ones you don’t see as much or know as much aren’t your friends.”

“Besides, we are more than just best friends, we are brothers.” Zeren exclaimed confidently. “Comrades, buddies, _pals_.”

“Of course nobody will be like us, but they don’t have to.” Wenjun added smiling gently.

Justin and Chengcheng frowned and looked at each other, doing that thing where they had an entire conversation just by looking at one another and using a variety of random gestures.

“Okay, first things first,” Justin began to speak, finally. “Please never call us pals.” Justin cringed, looking directly at Zeren.

“Gotcha… pal.” Zeren winked, and Justin groaned in annoyance.

“And second?” Zhengting asked hopefully. “Lets just try, okay? If somebody asks you to go eat with them, or go to hang out on a day off, for example, this time say yes and see if you like it?”

“...Fine.” Justin rolled his eyes and Chengcheng nodded, not looking too convinced but agreeing regardless.

“That’s my boy.” Zhengting fake-teared up.

“You’re not my mother!” Justin cried out slapping his hand away.

“Yes I am!”

“Also,” Justin said matter-of-factly. “I do talk to other people, Xiao Gui and I are tight.”

“Oh really?” Wenjun asked amused.

“Yeah! We’re texting buddies.” He showed off proudly.

“Do you ever talk to him in person?” Xinchun asked curiously.

“We don’t have to!” Justin defended himself.

“Case closed.” Zhengting sing-songed and Justin glared.

“You text other boys without me?” Chengcheng asked suddenly, looking hurt.

“About Zhengting and Xukun!” Justin explained quickly.

“Oh…” Chengcheng lost steam and calmed down. “Then I talk to lots and lots of people about that on twitter!” He beamed.

“Do you ever talk to others without bringing up me and my situation?” Zhengting deadpanned.

“Uhh…”

“You know what, I don’t even want to know.” Zhengting shushed them. “Go out there and get friends without having to resort to me as a topic, please, I beg you.”

“Fine.” They groaned lazily.

 

  

 

Things got a little better after that.

Now they could hang out with others during breaks and neither Chengcheng nor Justin would have an aneurysm. They were still not very used to the idea of actually hanging out with somebody not part of their close-knit group on a normal basis — but what Zhengting had said was true, those two were popular, especially after the whole twitter thing, so them getting along with others was not surprising to anybody except to Justin and Chengcheng.

“I’m team Yanjun.” Lin Chao said.

“I’m team Xukun.” Xiao Gui said matter-of-factly.

“Obviously.” Lin Chao stated with an eye-roll.

“Well, I am team Zhengting and I want him to be happy.” Quanzhe said worriedly.

“We all want that Quanzhe.” Chengcheng comforted him with a pat.

“Yeah but unless we help someway that doofus won’t pick anybody just because he is scared of hurting the other.” Justin informed the little group that had formed during that break in break room numbah uno.

So what if their favorite topic was still Zhengting? Until this thing died down, it would be _everyone's_ favorite topic.

“Then what do we do?” Quanzhe asked.

“Nothing?” Xinchun asked softly, flinching a bit at the look everybody sent him.

“Yeah, no.” Dinghao snorted, elbowing Xinchun’s stomach playfully.

“We interfere?” Xiao Gui asked, smiling mischievously. Justin and Chengcheng sent him identical grins.

“Naturally.”

“Personally, I don’t want to interfere at all, I just want to see how this entire thing ends.” Mubo said tiredly. “It’s already causing a rift between some of my friends.”

He motioned to where Zuo Ye and Qin Fen were squabbling about which side they were on. Zuo Ye was pledging his loyalties to Yanjun while Qin Fen started whining about how he just said that cause he had a crush on Xukun to which Zuo Ye cried out heartbrokenly.

“If I were in his place, I would _never_ hesitate! I’d choose Kunkun right away!” Zuo Ye sobbed. Qin Fen rolled his eyes.

“If you were in his place you wouldn’t even have options.”

“Qin Fen!” Mubo scolded. “See what I’m talking about?” He told the rest before standing from his seat to go and punch the oldest boy.

“Are we all really so bored that this is the most interesting thing that has happened all summer for us?” Lin Chao asked in disbelief.

“Yep.” Xiao Gui answered him, still watching enraptured how Mubo got Qin Fen in a chokehold. Justin smiled at him and said he’d teach him how to do one.

“It’s interesting because things like this never happen outside fiction.” Xinchun added.

“It’s interesting because we’re all secretly hopeless romantics.” Dinghao sighed, looking at Xinchun.

“Oh, please... It’s interesting because we’re all nosy!” Chengcheng cackled.

 

  

 

“They’re still talking about me aren’t they?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Zeren said not looking up from his phone.

Zhengting sighed tiredly.

He had never been one to sigh much, but this summer was one for firsts, it seemed.

“I don’t even have it in me to get annoyed anymore.” Zhengting told Zeren and Wenjun.

They were sitting in one of the utilidor hallways. Zhengting wasn’t in the mood for break room talk, especially now when everybody would turn to look at him every time he walked into the room and tell him their reasoning behind why they were on either Team Xukun or Team Yanjun.

“Things would die down if you’d stop them.” Zeren gave him a look.

Zhengting pouted and looked at Wenjun. “He’s bullying me.”

“Not confronting your problems put you in this mess, Zhu Zhengting,” Zeren taunted. “Don’t pout about me calling you out on it.”

“You don’t get it,” Zhengting explained to them quietly. “It’s so much harder than it sounds.”

Zeren and Wenjun listened to him, sitting at either side of him down on the floor.

“They’re both such great guys, sometimes I just want to keep them both…” Zhengting mumbled ashamed.

“But you can’t do that.”

“I know I can’t, never said I will, I just… have you seen them? You can understand why I find it so hard to make up my mind? Even more with how they treat me.”

“I get it, man, I do. They are two very handsome guys, very into you, anybody would have a hard time.” Zeren laughed. “Lucky bastard.”

“I still don’t understand how or why I managed to get their attention,” Zhengting said honestly. “And I feel flattered but I just wish it were easier… I wish I didn’t have more than one option.”

“Don’t we all?” Wenjun half-smiled.

“To be completely honest with you, Zhengting,” Zeren started. “In your place, I would go for Yanjun.”

Zhengting and Wenjun turned to stare at him with varying levels of surprise.

“Why do you say that?” Zhengting asked.

“Because of the way he makes you laugh and how he takes care of you, but mostly, because of how carefree you look whenever you are together.” Zeren shrugged casually as if his words were no big deal.

“What about Kun?” Zhengting frowned worriedly. Zeren’s gaze flickered over to Wenjun for a second before looking back at Zhengting blankly.

“What about him?” He asked Zhengting with a quick shrug. “He’s a nice guy, definitely cute, but he also made you hide from him for a month, so I don’t know just how suited he is for you.”

Zhengting’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

“Excuse you?” He gasped. “He didn’t make me _hide_ from him. I did that all on my own.”

“And why?” Zeren inquired matter-of-factly. “Admit it Zhengting, you’ll never be half as comfortable with Xukun like the way you are with Yanjun.”

Zhengting looked at him betrayed, mouth hanging.

“I-!” Zhengting sputtered. “You-!” He pointed to Zeren accusingly.

Zeren scoffed, looking down at him —Zhengting wasn’t sure how he could do that considering he was shorter than Zhengting, but he managed to do it.

Wenjun wrapped an arm around Zhengting, pulling his raised arm down gently.

“What about you?” Zhengting whispered to the taller boy. “What do you have to say about this? Are you going to help me pick too?”

“You don’t get to pick who you like, Zhengting. And neither do we.” Wenjun smiled sadly. “If it were that easy nobody would walk around with a broken heart. You would always have a reciprocated love that way. If you could do that, love would be as simple as breathing and you wouldn’t have situations like yours.”

Zhengting looked at him sadly.

“You sound like you’re talking from experience, Jun.” He murmured softly.

Wenjun let out a hollow laugh before looking down at the floor with a self-deprecating smile.

“I am.”

“How did it end for you?” Zhengting asked cautiously.

Wenjun gave him a half-smile. “It hasn’t ended.”

Zhengting jolted at the response.

“What have you been hiding from me, Bi Wenjun?” He furrowed his eyebrows.

Wenjun patted his head and waved his concerns away.

“It doesn’t matter right now, Zhengting,” He said offhandedly, shushing Zhengting’s complains. “We can talk about me later, we’re talking about you.”

Zhengting looked pained at his response, he didn’t want to put his love problems ahead of his friend’s. Wenjun seemed to understand his inner thoughts and just shook his head with an amused smile.

“Figure out what to say to your princes first and then come to me.” He offered. “Only then will you get me to talk.” He sassed.

Zhengting tried to smile back, feeling out of his element with the new knowledge or lack of.

Who was Wenjun sad about?

“Just think about it.” Zeren piped up, taking the attention away from Wenjun.

“Think about what?” Zhengting asked distractedly, still looking at Wenjun.

“What you actually feel for them,” Zeren proposed unsurely before rolling his eyes with a sigh. “The thing with you, Zhengting, is that you’re letting others decide for you. You’re letting everything everybody says about your relationships affect you— influence you and your opinions.”

Zhengting finally turned towards him at that. Because it was true, he knew it was true.

“Think about yourself, for yourself, with your own thoughts. Not others. This is about you and your boys and only you guys. Not us.” Zeren pointed to himself and Wenjun. “Not them.” He raised an arm towards the general direction of the break room. “Not any of them. What do _you_ want?”

Zhengting bit his lip nervously, lost in thought.

“What do you feel when you see Yanjun? What does he make you feel?” Zeren tried a different approach.

Zhengting stared at him, hesitating at the idea, he had avoided thinking about either of them before because he was scared of looking too into his feelings— of what he’d find. But he realized that it was time for him to suck it up and finally do it.

Like Xinchun had said, if not for Zhengting himself, then for the two boys who made his mind go wild.

So, he thought about Zeren’s question deeply.

What did he feel about them?

Yanjun made him feel special.

That was a given.

Every time he saw him, Zhengting would get excited about what Yanjun’s presence would bring with. He made Zhengting feel pretty and funny and wanted. He made Zhengting smile with all his all puns and understood all his dorky Disney references, he always stared at Zhengting as if he were the prettiest thing in the room, even when he was a mess.

Yanjun never made him feel like anything other than himself — a bolder, flirtier, prettier version of himself.

And he liked who he was when he was with Yanjun.

“And now think about what you feel when you see Xukun,” Zeren grinned. “What does _he_ make you feel?”

 _Xukun_ …

Zhengting felt his heart hump to his throat just thinking about that name.

Xukun made him nervous.

Whenever he was with Xukun, he wanted to drop dead, not literally of course, but he couldn’t help but always feel out of his element when in the younger prince’s presence. He never felt he looked good enough, or that he was doing anything good enough to impress the boy.

Xukun made him want to look the best or be the best. He wanted to be the only one Xukun saw.

When he was with Xukun he wasn’t confident, or careless, the way he was with Yanjun. Xukun made him giddy and bubbly and interesting, as if his words actually carried meaning behind them, as if they were worthy of being listened to. Made Zhengting smile all day just by remembering Xukun’s smile and his kindness, and all his softness and warmth. Xukun made Zhengting feel like he glowed whenever he could see the fondness behind his pretty brown eyes.

He made Zhengting feel like he wasn’t just himself — loud, dumb, clumsy Zhengting — made him excited about who he could be.

“Now think about who you wouldn’t want to lose.” Wenjun added after Zhengting paused for longer.

Zhengting frowned at his choice of words. He didn’t want to lose either of them, that was the problem, before anything else they were his friends, both of them.

“Who do you want to keep seeing all the time after this summer?” Zeren offered instead. “Whose hand do you want to hold? Who do you want to hug? Or kiss? Who do you want to date? Those are the questions you have to make to yourself.”

And Zhengting _knew_. The first name that appeared in his head at that, at all those questions, almost automatically.

He knew who it was.

“And?” Zeren asked. “Verdict?”

Zhengting stayed quiet for a moment.

“I think I know.” He whispered, stunned.

The other two smiled fondly at him as he kept staring blankly in front of him

“About damn time.” Zeren cheered.

“You’re good.” Wenjun whispered in awe, looking down at Zeren as if he were god. Zeren beamed and straightened up proudly.

 

 

  

 

“Do I look cute?”

Yanjun stared at his phone intently, the softest look in his eyes.

“Hmm?” Yanjun hummed dazedly, before looking up at Fujing. “Are you trying to get me to compliment you again?

“What are you talking about,” She grinned. “It’s not like I’m _fishing_ for compliments.”

Yanjun smiled briefly before going back to looking pensively at his phone.

“Why the long face, Prince Dimples?” She nudged him.

“I don’t have a long face…” Yanjun shrugged before putting his game face on. “My face is flawless. Not that you can relate.”

“Hey!” She fake-gasped, pushing him harder. “No but seriously, cheer up.”

Yanjun smiled at her concern but couldn't help but deflate. His normal confidence about everything sliding away to leave away what he has always been: a scared and insecure boy.

“It’s about ya boi, isn’t it?” Fujing said knowingly, “What has he done now to put you in a slump?”

“I think me and Zhengting aren’t going to go anywhere.” Yanjun confessed sadly.

“Not with that attitude you’re not.” Fujing rolled her eyes, hands on her waist.

“I’m serious… there’s someone else.” Yanjun informed her as if she didn't know.

“Prince Charming, yes, I know, Xuanyi told me about the whole twitter debate.” Fujing smirked.

“Don’t remind me.”

“I voted for you, Eric, my love.” She giggled, tucking a strand of his hair behind his ear lovingly.

“Thanks, I guess.” He huffed with a small smile. “Not that it matters much with the real deal.”

“Don’t think so low of yourself, Junnie. Remember? You guys are _mer-made_ for each other.” She snorted at her own pun like the dork she was. Who would think that a girl like Fujing was so dumb deep down, Yanjun thought fondly.

“I wish you’d stop _mer-making_ puns.”

“Lies.” She said matter-of-factly, jutting her hip out. “My puns are the best, one of the reasons you keep on stealing them.”

“I don’t steal them,” Yanjun said indignantly. “You steal them from _me_.”

“Sure, go ahead, lie to yourself.” She rolled her eyes.

“You’re too much.” He laughed and shook his head in disbelief.

“You both steal puns from the internet, so shut it.” Zhangjing murmured as he kept reading some of the worker’s reports.

“You’re so mean.” Fujing pouted at him, Zhangjing didn’t even look up at her so he just ignored her.

“Yada yada.” He droned listlessly.

“Anyhow, I have the perfect solution for you!” Fujing clapped excited all of a sudden. Startling Yanjun — not Zhangjing cause he was way too used to either of them.

“What?” Yanjun asked cautiously.

“Well… don’t tell Zhangjing,” She whispered conspiratorially, looking discreetly towards said boy. “Cause he’ll yell at me, but if you do it’s all good, that’s the good ol’ fashioned favoritism between us.”

“I’m right here.” Zhangjing said loudly, still reading a report, but now a different one and jotting down some notes.

“Whatever.” She sassed.

“Go on.” Yanjun said impatiently.

“Right, so remember that giveaway I entered?” She said randomly. He gave her a look because what did that have to do with him.

“The one about the tickets?” He played along and asked her.

“Yup, well guess who won? As always.” She smirked proudly, fluffing her red Ariel hair.

“You have way too much luck with those sorts of things.” Yanjun laughed.

“And none in anything that matters.” Zhangjing piped in, snootily.

She turned to glare at him.

“As I was _saying…_ I know I am the luckiest person _ever_ , but I don’t think I’ll use them, so I’ll be the bestest of friends and matchmakers — because Zhangjing is _useless_ in that area — and help you get your shot.”

“What do you mean…?” Yanjun smiled in confusion.

“You’re going to use these tickets and give your boy the best day ever and you’ll get the guy, okay?” Fujing said meaningfully, grabbing Yanjun’s hand and putting the tickets in his palm. Zhangjing finally looked up at that, surprise coloring his face.

“Fujing…” He said softly, staring at her in awe.

“Regardless of what happens, Yanjun. At least get a date with him, okay? And then confess.” She huffed with a grin.

“I can’t accept your prize,” He argued back. “These are expensive and they're _yours_.”

“Nonsense.” She shook her head. “They are no use to me. But they can be useful to you.”

“Why are you talking as if you were an extra on Game of Thrones.” Zhangjing said with a weirded out face. Fujing gave him the finger.

“What if nothing happens and it's wasted on me.” Yanjun frowns down at the tickets, ignoring their bickering.

“Then nothing happened, and you get to try again with something else.”

Yanjun stared at her intently before breaking out in a smile. Zhangjing rolled his eyes fondly at her.

“Things are getting closer to the end, Yanjun, you’re more pressured, so is your fairy, and so is Xukun, according to Meiqi.” She explained patiently. “You are _my_ prince, I’m on _your_ side — just as much as Meiqi is on Xukun’s. She has helped him all summer until now and this is me helping you. So please let me help because at the pace you’re going you’ll be down for the count.”

“You’re the best princess I could have gotten.” He hugged her tightly. She laughed brightly.

“I know.” She patted his back.

“Thanks Ariel.” He grinned warmly.

“Don’t throw away your shot, Eric.” She said wisely, with a nod.

“Stop quoting Hamilton!” Zhangjing snapped finally.

“Don’t tell me how to talk!”

 

  

 

Zhengting walked around the park in a stunned daze. Even when he had to act Duffy-like for the public, he felt like something had shifted inside his head. After that journey of self-discovery with Zeren and Wenjun, he spent the next couple of days feeling almost as if he were grieving a relationship he never had.

He saw glimpses of Xukun here and there, the prince waving at him happily whenever he caught sight of the big bear. Zhengting felt a knot in his throat each time.

He wanted to find Yanjun. But that prince seemed to be running away from him. Now he knew what it was to have someone run away from you when you really wanted to talk to them.

He was walking back from the castle to the nearest mask-free place. The parade of the day had just finished, and he got to see everybody at the same time through Duffy-protected eyes. It was also the first time all day he had managed to see Yanjun for more than two minutes.

Zhengting spent the entire ride glaring at Mubo (from where he sat inside the cart) since he was the one in charge of the characters placement that day — and of all places and all carts, Duffy the bear had to be in the same one as Cinderella and Ariel’s crew… what type of cosmic joke was that?

When Mubo had called out their names everybody ‘ooh’d’ and ‘ah’d’ and ‘ooh-lala’d’ and Zhengting wanted the earth to swallow him.

The other two reacted to the teasing much more gracefully than Zhengting could ever dream of, but that was because they were cool and smooth and confident and Zhengting was most definitely not.

This was getting out of control and Mubo was in his blacklist all of a sudden. Of all people...

He huffed angrily and stomped his feet. How dare they make this a constant joke? He felt so awkward because of it and everybody kept putting him on the spot. Everybody thought about Yanjun and Xukun’s feelings and he understood that, but what about his? Why did everybody make it seem as if he were playing with the guys willingly, knowingly, when he wasn't aware of it at all until recently.

“Duffy! Hey! Wait up!”

Zhengting kept stomping away angrily. The nerve!

“Woah woah woah, where’s the fire, baby bear?” He felt a hand grip his paw and pull him to a stop.

They had already passed the line where Disney characters could stop their acting. The yellow line that would alert the workers of when guests would be able to see them or not — Zhengting was never aware of that line nor did he trust it, so most of the time he kept character until he was safe inside the building.

“Why did you run after me, Yanjun?” Zhengting sighed loudly.

Yanjun smiled worriedly. “You’re angry, aren’t you? Don’t be angry.”

“How can I not!” Zhengting exploded. His voice muffled by the thick bear mask.

He ripped it off annoyed, finally breathing fresh air after all that.

“How can I not?” He repeated quietly, ruffling his hair roughly in irritation. He hated how matted it got when he wore his Duffy suit. Yanjun took Zhengting’s hand away from where it was pulling at his hair.

“Why are you so angry? They were just having fun.” He chuckled.

“Well I wasn’t.” Zhengting confessed with a pout.

“I’ll tell them to stop.” Yanjun promised him. “Don’t be mad.”

Zhengting huffed once and look away.

“I have something that can cheer you up!” Yanjun said brightly. “Make you give me that gorgeous smile of yours.”

Zhengting gave him a look, trying to, and failing, not to give him a smile, the corner of his lips curling slightly.

“There it is!” Yanjun grinned pointing at Zhengting’s tiny smile.

Zhengting slapped his hand away, “What’s supposed to cheer me up?”

“Apart from me?” Yanjun winked. “I have free tickets to Universal Studios.”

“The new one?” Zhengting asked surprised. “That opened up a few weeks ago?”

“That’s the one,” Yanjun said proudly. “I wanted to know if you wanted to go... with me?”

Zhengting felt like he was having heart-palpitations, he could almost feel the blood as it rushed to his face all the way from his ears to his neck.

“With you? Alone? As in… a _date_?” Zhengting’s voice went up a pitch. Yanjun stared at him in shock before giving him a smirk.

“Well… not exactly?” He laughed. “I got six tickets.”

“Ooooh…” Zhengting laughed nervously at himself, feeling awfully stupid.

Yanjun went on, looking down at his costume as he patted his many pockets in search for something— letting out a pleased sound when he found it and pulled out a bunch of tickets.

“I wanted to give one to you and the other two to your rowdiest kids.” Yanjun explained, offering them to Zhengting who just stared at them in shock.

“Justin and Chengcheng?” Zhengting asked softly, still staring at the tickets.

“Exactly.” Yanjun beamed, pushing them closer to Zhengting.

“That’s really nice, Yanjun, and all…” Zhengting smiled awkwardly and Yanjun’s smile fell. “But they are your tickets, you shouldn’t waste them on us. What about your friends?”

Yanjun sighed in relief when he understood. Fondness blooming in his chest as he looked at Zhengting — messy blonde hair, body still in a bear suit and bear head in one hand— and realized that they had the same reaction towards the free tickets.

“You guys are my friends.” He laughed in relief. “I also invited two of mine. That way you’ll be more comfortable.”

“Huh?” Zhengting’s smile froze in place. Comfortable for what?

“I gotta get back to my post but here, take care of them.”

Yanjun dimpled beautifully and gave him the tickets more forcefully before darting away when Zhengting wanted to give them back.

“Yanjun!” Zhengting yelled after him when the prince ran towards the building.

“Yeah!” He turned to him, jogging backward so he could look at Zhengting.

“Thank you!” Zhengting smiled, waving his hand at him.

“You’re welcome!”

“Don’t run like that! You’ll fall!” Zhengting berated him.

“No, I won’t!”

Famous last words.

 

  

 

“He gave them tickets!”

Xiao Gui slammed his hands on the table in front of him. Xukun jumped, startled, looking up from the game he was playing on his phone.

“You seriously have to learn how to begin a conversation,” Xukun sighed, rubbing his nose bridge tiredly. “You can’t just expect me to immediately know what the hell you’re talking about, and look? You made me lose.”

Xukun went back to his game before Xiao Gui snatched it away from him.

“Listen to me, you dumbass,” Xiao said through gritted teeth. “I know how to start conversations, this? This is the start of one, Yanjun gave Zhengting tickets.”

“To where?” Xukun asked with furrowed brows.

“To Universal Studios!” Xiao Gui explained exasperatedly raising his hands above his head.

“What about Universal?” Ziyi inquired before sitting down at the small table with them.

“Yanjun gave Zhengting tickets to go there.” Xiao Gui repeated.

“The new one?” Ziyi asked impressed.

“Yeah.”

“Damn… he smooth.” Ziyi nodded looking even more impressed.

Xukun glared at him lightly.

Xiao Gui paced in front of him all riled up. Ziyi pointed his chin at the younger boy as if to ask ‘what’s going on with him’ to Xukun but Xukun didn’t know either.

Since when did Xiao Gui have such intense feelings over Xukun’s love life?

“Okay, okay, simple.” Xiao Gui clapped once and stopped his pacing.

“What’s simple?” Xukun asked cautiously.

“We go there too!” Xiao Gui smiled brightly.

“No.” Xukun said immediately.

“Payday is a day away! We figure out when they're going, and we buy the exact same date!” Xiao Gui explained quickly but Xukun was still shaking his head.

“We can't just do that, Linkai.” Xukun disagreed.

“Yes, we can.” Xiao Gui stressed the last word.

“That’s not right.” Xukun frowned.

“That’s kind of a shitty thing to do,” Ziyi agreed, frowning in distaste. “Tagging along to their date that way is just plain rude.”

“D-date?” Xukun stuttered, panicked. Eyebrows slanting in worry.

“Oh no, I’m not sure if it is an outright date, Justin and Chengcheng are going too.” Xiao Gui informed them. “And it is so not wrong or rude, they’re going as a group and we can go too. And if anybody asks... Justin invited us.”

“Justin and Chengcheng? What for?” Ziyi asked intrigued.

“To win them over… that’s so smart.” Xukun said slowly putting the pieces together.

“That’s _right_ , those two are the most overprotective of the bunch — to get to the treasure you need to pass their approval.” Xiao Gui nodded.

“Stop talking like a pirate, we’re on break.” Xukun said distractedly.

“It’s hard okay!?” Xiao Gui whined. “Anyway. This is final. We are going to universal.”

 

  

 

“I can’t believe this is actually a thing.” Justin scoffed.

Zhengting was pacing nervously in front of him and Chengcheng was sitting on the sidewalk, scrolling through his phone.

“What is a thing?”

“This,” Justin said pointing at the nervous wreck called Zhengting. “Since when are you and Yanjun a thing?”

“We’re not.” Zhengting muttered. “That’s why I am stressed.”

“Do you want to be?” Justin asked curiously.

Zhengting paused before turning to Justin.

“I forgot to tell you!” Zhengting exclaimed shocked. Justin narrowed his eyes and Chengcheng’s head snapped up so quickly Zhengting was worried for his neck.

“To tell us what?” They asked.

“I talked to Zeren.” Zhengting said as if that explained everything. “And Wenjun.”

And it did.

If anything, this whole thing had lasted as long as it has because Zeren avoided getting involved in too much drama lately— especially considering how busy he has been as Mickey—but when he did get involved, he always managed to get through Zhengting’s thick skull. Maybe because they were similar in a sense, that Zeren could understand his mindset the most.

But if Zeren had spoken to Zhengting about this suddenly, seriously, then that meant Zhengting finally made up his mind.

Chengcheng and Justin opened their mouth in surprise before a shout made them snap them shut.

“Hi guys!” Yanjun yelled at them cheerfully. “You guys got here before us!” He said when he got close enough.

Justin and Chengcheng gave Zhengting a serious and shook look.

Did that mean…?

“Jiasteeen! Hallo.” Justin felt a hand on his shoulders and turned to the bright smile of the one and only, Nongnong.

“Nong?” He laughed. “You’re here too?”

“I’m one of Yanjun’s plus one!” Nongnong beamed. “Or plus two, technically.”

“Hmm?” Justin hummed curiously, looking over at Chengcheng who was pouting.

“Hi to you too, Linong.” Chengcheng pouted deeper.

“Chengcheng! Hii!” Nongnong laughed, patting Chengcheng’s shoulder.

Chengcheng brightened up, couldn’t not when directed on of Nongnong’s cute smiles.

“Why are you so nervous?” Yanjun asked Zhengting when he noticed his constant fidgeting.

Zhengting hesitated only a second before sputtering some bullshit on the spot.

“Because! We work at _Disney_ and we are betraying it by coming here?” Zhengting said quickly, whispering ‘Disney’

“Nah, they are basically brother companies, no biggy.” Yanjun laughed it off.

“I’m pretty sure they’re not.” Justin chirped in.

Zhengting nodded at that. “If Zhangjing finds out we came here, we’re dead.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Yanjun laughed before pointing behind Zhengting. “He is one of my free passes too! Look, here he comes.”

Zhengting turned to look behind him quickly, and as Yanjun had pointed out, Zhangjing was walking closer to them, lifting his hand up in an awkward half-wave.

“OH!” Zhengting said surprised. “I didn’t know…”

“He went to park his car,” Yanjun explained. “I saw you guys were already here so Nongnong and I decided to come here while he looked for a parking space.”

“Thanks for the company by the way.” Zhangjing rolled his eyes, ignoring Yanjun’s smirk.

Zhengting nodded at himself, “Okay, then… if Yixing finds out we're dead.”

“Okay maybe that’s true,” Zhangjing admitted. “That is why we won’t ever mention this in front of him. Ever.”

“Agreed.” Zhengting said quickly. Chengcheng and Justin saluted Zhangjing.

“Stop treating me as a military sergeant” Zhangjing snapped at them.

“Yes, sir!” They saluted again before breaking out in the silliest chortles. Zhengting instantly relaxed at that, he was glad that he got to spend time with them. Yanjun was right, they definitely helped making him feel more comfortable.

“So…” Nongnong drawled out. “Shall we?”

“We shall!” Chengcheng chirped, linking arms with the boy and walking away to the entrance. Justin frowned, “Hey! Wait for me!”

The older three stared at them go, “Gentlemen?” Yanjun asked, raising both arms so they could link arms.

Zhangjing looked at his curved arm, unimpressed and walked after the kids.

Yanjun’s jaw dropped, he looked at Zhengting hopefully.

Zhengting giggled at his expression and gave in, “Fine, but just because that was the saddest thing I’ve seen all day.”

Yanjun grinned, thanking Zhangjing in his mind for being an uncooperative asshole.

 

  

 

Bufan couldn’t make it since it was his brothers’ birthday and he didn’t stop whining about the unfairness about that all week.

Whatever.

The thing about Xiao Gui’s idea… is that it’s the worst idea ever.

But somehow, Xukun still went along with that. And more surprisingly, so did Ziyi —the best bro of all bros.

“This was a bad idea.” Ziyi whispered to Xukun.

“I know.” Xukun whispered back sadly.

“I can hear you.” Xiao Gui whispered angrily. “And I think I can see them!”

Xukun turned to look at the direction Xiao Gui was pointing at before slapping his arm down. “Don’t fucking point! You want them to realize we’re here!?”

“That is the fucking point of coming here!” Xiao Gui snapped.

“Please don’t curse,” Ziyi whispered embarrassedly, smiling awkwardly at a passing parent. “We may not be in Disney but there are still kids here!”

“Okay so how do we approach them?” Xiao Gui went on, instantly going into his planning-mode.

“You’re the great mastermind behind us why don’t _you_ tell us.” Xukun smiled tightly.

“I can’t be the only brains of the group,” Xiao Gui smiled back just as meanly.

“Guys,” Ziyi sighed heavily. “They’re walking away already.”

“Shit.” Xiao Gui cursed again. “Damn it, Cai Xukun, I’m trying to help you get laid here and you’re wasting all of the chances I get you!”

“You are most definitely not helping me get laid!” Xukun’s voice went up to an interesting pitch. “Why are you so fucking invested in this now?”

“Yeah, Linkai,” Ziyi squinted at him suspiciously. “You’re a thousand times more desperate for Zhengkun to work.”

“Zhengkun?” Xukun raised his eyebrows.

“Zhengting and Xukun,” Xiao Gui explained briefly. “Shipname.”

“We have a shipname?!” Xukun exclaimed.

“Yep, Zhengting and Yanjun are Zhengjun.” The younger went on.

Xukun’s mouth dropped.

“Anyways I’m as invested as always but now I’m worried that this idiot won’t win because he is being too slow.” Xiao Gui frowned at Xukun.

Xukun almost felt bad at that, because Xiao Gui has always been the most supportive of his friends over the Zhengting matter, right from the start, and he could feel his friends’ frustrations along with his own.

Ziyi, on the other hand, was not having it.

“You bet on them, didn’t you?” Ziyi said matter-of-factly

Xukun gasped.

“I would _never_ –!” Xiao Gui gasped too.

Ziyi just gave him an unimpressed look so he sighed in defeat.

“Fine,” Xiao Gui pouted. “I’m going to get so much money but only if that _thing_ decided to finally wear his big boy pants!” He seethed in Xukun’s direction.

“You son of a bitch.” Xukun gasped again. “How dare you bet on my love life!”

“Oh, please, you’d do the same in my place,” Xiao Gui shrugged. “Besides, I’m not the only one.” He gave Ziyi a meaningful look.

Xukun turned scandalized to look at Ziyi. “You didn’t!”

“At least I’m not prying into your matters.” Ziyi defended himself. “I’m just going on blind trust that you’ll be able to get Zhengting by your own means.”

Xukun scoffed completely flabbergasted.

“Stop trying to make it sound better.” Xukun said defeated.

“So we are all guilty of this,” Xiao Gui ‘ha’d’ in their faces.

“Bufan would never.” Xukun pointed out.

“You’re right,” Ziyi nodded, “Bufan would never bet on you.”

“That’s why he put his bet on Yanjun.” Xiao Gui added. “Be thankful we’re on your side.”

“He did not!” Xukun gasped again. How dare that giant idiot!?

“Oooh, I’m gonna kill him when I see him next, that traitor.” Xukun mumbled angrily.

“Look at it from the bright side,” Xiao Gui patted Xukun’s arm. “If Bufan does win then he can treat your broken heart.”

“In what world is that the bright side of anything?” Xukun asked in a monotone voice.

“They’re gone.” Ziyi said loudly, pointing in the direction that Zhengting and Yanjun and the rest had been in.

“Let’s go find them quick!” Xiao Gui ran off desperately.

“How are we going to talk to them?!” Xukun asked worriedly.

“I’ll improvise!” Xiao Gui yelled back. “Hurry!”

“I don’t like the sound of that…” Ziyi frowned. Xukun frowned back.

“Neither do I.”

When they finally managed to catch up to where Xiao Gui had gone to, they were met with the most embarrassing scene ever.

Xukun wanted the world to swallow him whole.

“What a fucking coincidence!” He could hear Xiao Gui yell, sounding so fake that it made Xukun cringe. He didn’t even want to get closer but Ziyi pushed him on, Xukun found it difficult to look at the other guys in the face.

Justin and Chengcheng were grinning like creepy Cheshire cats, Zhangjing too was giving them a knowing look and Nongnong, bless his soul, just grinned happily at them.

Yanjun, though, he looked so unimpressed. He gave Xukun a look, pressing his tongue against his cheek before scoffing in disbelief, and Xukun went back to wanting to throw himself off a bridge.

“I bet it was.” Yanjun smirked knowingly.

Xukun sighed, looking at the older boy remorsefully.

Zhengting smiled in a confused manner.

“Well! The more the merrier?” He offered sweetly, looking at Yanjun as if asking him. Yanjun looked at him with a conflicted expression for a second before breaking out in a smile.

“I guess it is.” Yanjun nodded, turning to look to the other three boys. “You can come along with us if you want, we’re going to Diagon Alley.”

“We wouldn’t want to barge in...” Xukun whispered, smiling awkwardly. Yanjun rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

“It’s fine, man, the more the merrier.” Yanjun smiled softly, clapped Xukun on the back once and moved on— though not before looking at Zhengting for approval to which the younger boy hummed happily.

Xukun was left behind for a second with Zhengting, the rest continuing on the way to Harry Potter world.

Zhengting tilted his head curiously at Xukun before beaming.

“What are the odds!” He giggled. “That we would find each other here today.”

“Yeah.” Xukun laughed nervously. “Unbelievable.”

Xiao Gui snorted in front of them and tried to cover it as a cough, Ziyi thumped his back roughly in revenge.

“Ow!”

Zhengting gave Xiao Gui and Ziyi a look before walking ahead, linking arms with Xiao Gui of all people and pulling him on towards the rest of the guys. Xiao Gui turned quickly to wink at Xukun.

That asshole.

“I’m so embarrassed.” Xukun whined below his breath. Ziyi patted his arms his arm in sympathy though he too looked very embarrassed.

“Nothing we can do now about that.” Ziyi shrugged infinitesimally.

“How did we let him convince us into actually doing this?”

“He is good with words?” Ziyi whispered helplessly. “Also, deep down you actually wanted to be here. Don’t lie.”

“I know, but that was in _theory_ ,” Xukun whispered furiously. “In real life, it is too embarrassing for words, and even more because everyone except Zhengting knows that this was not a coincidence!”

“He really is oblivious, isn’t he?” Ziyi asked amused.

“Chengcheng keeps giggling every time he looks at me!” Xukun groaned. “We’ve been here for less than five minutes.”

“Expect an entire day like this.” Ziyi ‘comforted’ him.

“Thanks.” Xukun glared at his friend. “Just what I needed.”

“At least you can also expect an entire day with that, too.” Ziyi smiled, looking over to where Zhengting was chattering merrily with Nongnong and Xiao Gui.

Xukun smiled unconsciously.

“Yeah… at least there’s him.”

 

  

 

“We’re fucked. We’re fucking fucked. Fucked, we’re fucked–“

“Please stops saying that.” Zhengting rubbed his temples.

“…fucked.” Chengcheng said one more time softly. And as much as Zhengting hated all the cussing, he could totally relate to Chengcheng’s mood.

“Your two worlds are colliding again.” Justin singsonged. They were inside one of the shops, watching the rest through a window as they geeked out over the ‘magical things’ they could do with their newly acquired wands. “Can’t catch a break, can ya?”

“I know.” Zhengting whined. “What is he doing here?”

“Beats me,” Justin snorted. “But coincidence my ass.”

“It’s awfully suspicious.” Chengcheng agreed, typing quickly on his phone.

“You think?” Zhengting turned to them attentively.

“Of course I think that!” Justin rolled his eyes. “Of all the places in the city they could be today, they came _here_? At the same time as we did? On your date with Yanjun?”

“It’s not a date.” Zhengting corrected with narrowed eyes.

“Sure is, he invited you here after all.” Justin sassed.

“Along with you two! And Nongnong and Zhangjing!”

“Because you wouldn’t go alone!” Justin retorted.

“How do you know that?!” Zhengting responded.

“Because I know you! And it seems that so does he!” Justin slapped his forehead in frustration.

“Hey,” Chengcheng frowned, pulling Justin’s hand away from his head. “Don’t hit yourself.”

Justin rolled his eyes at him and pulled his hand away.

“What do I do then?” Zhengting pouted, looking out the window again.

“Keep casual, we’ll figure it out as we go.” Justin nodded seriously.

“Let’s just have fun!” Chengcheng cheered, throwing his arms in the air, phone and all.

“Chengcheng.” Zhengting berated, smiling despite himself.

“What? It’s Universal, for whatever the real reason everyone is here for, the least we can do is actually have fun in the meantime.” Chengcheng shrugged, smiling cheekily.

“You’re right. Let’s enjoy this while we can.” Zhengting cheered back.

“Yeah!” Chengcheng whooped.

 

  

 

“Let’s go to the walking dead thingy!” Nongnong yelled excitedly.

“Is it like a haunted house?” Zhengting asked with a smile.

“But with zombies!” Nongnong nodded.

“Okay…” Zhengting laughed blissfully unsuspecting.

Justin watched amused as he could almost see a light bulb flicker above both Yanjun and Xukun’s heads.

“We should totally go!” Yanjun said brightly.

“I love zombies!” Xukun nodded intensely.

“Me too!” Yanjun nodded back.

Zhengting chuckled.

“Well then what are we waiting for!” He cheered. He was still pumped over Chengcheng’s earlier enthusiasm.

Yanjun and Xukun looked at each other suspiciously before shrugging and going on with their ‘plan’.

It obviously did not go as they expected it to go.

It was all fun and games until the first zombie attacked.

Or jumped out, really.

“Fucking fuck!”

They were already by the end of the walk-through.

Zhengting, not surprisingly, was the jumpiest out of everyone, every small sound making him scream. Xukun was a solid second.

Xukun felt his soul leave his body when one of the zombies gave him a surprise surprise attack once the exit was seen ahead. So, he didn’t think, he just grabbed Zhengting and dragged him out of there as quickly as he could.

When they came out, he turned to look at Zhengting only to see Zhangjing smirking at him.

“You okay there, Prince Charming?” Zhangjing tried to muffle his laugh.

“Oh, come one!” Xukun cried out, laughing at his luck.

He turned behind and saw Ziyi walk out with the trembling Zhengting hanging off his arm.

“Hey!” Yanjun pouted.

“Ziyii.” Xukun whined.

“What?” Ziyi shrugged the best he could with a Zhengting on one arm. “We found each other in there?”

“That…” Zhengting said shakily. “Was so cool!”

Nongnong and Xiao Gui cheered in agreement.

“Don’t get me wrong, I never want to go in there again, but that was so exhilarating.” Zhengting turned to look at Ziyi, babbling away in mixed excitement and leftover jumpiness.

“If this thing taught me one thing,” Chengcheng announced suddenly with a dignified tone as he was walking out. “Is that I would not survive a zombie apocalypse.”

“Do not worry, my dumb dumb,” Justin said proudly beside him. “I will protect you when that happens.”

Chengcheng sniffed gratefully before hugging Justin to his chest.

“My hero!”

Everybody laughed at their antics.

“I can’t believe you started flirting with the zombies.” Zhangjing laughed at Yanjun.

“It’s my go-to mode, okay!” Yanjun snapped with just a hint of embarrassment. “Couldn’t let them see that they made me jump.”

“The fact that flirting is your first response says a lot about you.” Justin snorted. Yanjun smirked.

“What can I say, I’m a lover at heart.” He winked at Zhengting who laughed nervously.

“But that aside, that was so much fun!” Nongnong diffused the situation with his happiness.

“It was.” Ziyi agreed with a nod.

“That awkward silence right after a zombie screamed at us was hilarious.” Xiao Gui snickered.

“Ten ten, would recommend!” Justin pumped a fist in the air. “Now on to the next thing!”

 

  

 

“What’s going on? What’s going on!?” Zhengting asked with a panicked look.

They were in the bathroom now. Because they were not them if they did not have mini-interventions every hour or so to freak out over Zhengting’s love triangle.

“I think... you’re being courted?” Justin said thoughtfully.

“What?” Zhengting’s mouth opened up unattractively.

“What is he? A 19th-century lady?” Chengcheng scoffed. “Who says court nowadays.”

“I do,” Justin snapped annoyed. “ _I_ say court, _I_ like saying courting, courting is okay.”

Chengcheng straightened up quickly. “Do you… Do you wanna be courted?”

“This is not what this talk is about! It’s all about me!” Zhengting interrupted with his whining.

“As it always is.” Justin rolled his eyes fondly.

“Stop rolling your eyes so much,” Zhengting frowned. “They’re going to get stuck.”

“Stop frowning so much, you’re going to get wrinkles.”

Zhengting gasped, “Am not!”

“Your guys are making it easier for you, you chose now.” Chengcheng huffed, bringing their attention back to the main point. “It’s like a video game except that the ending route you chose is it. You can’t go back to the start to play it all over again.”

“That is not helpful… at all.” Zhengting informed him skeptically.

“Never said it was.” Chengcheng grinned.

“We can try to get one away, so you spend more time with the other.” Justin offered.

“Though you would have to say which one at which times.” Chengcheng added.

Zhengting puffed up decidedly.

“Okay everybody stop.” He said lifting his palms up to emphasize how much ‘the stop had to be done’. “I need you to stop getting in the way and doing things when I’m with either of the guys.”

“But–“

“But nothing, I don’t need you to help me anymore, I already know who I’m going to choose, I’ve already decided.” Zhengting nodded once.

Justin and Chengcheng looked at him, amazed.

Well, about time.

 

  

 

“Where the hell is Yanjun?” Zhengting asked for what felt like the fiftieth time. “He keeps disappearing.”

“I swear that boy needs a tracker.” Zhangjing nodded with a fond sigh.

“Yanjun! Get back here!” Zhengting yelled, once he caught sight of said boy in the distance.

Yanjun was standing patiently in the line of an ice-cream stand.

“I wanted ice-cream…” He pouted at Zhengting.

“We’ll buy some later, first we gotta go on that ride.” Zhengting explained kindly.

“Aww.” Yanjun pouted deeper. Zhengting laughed at him.

“Stop pouting you big baby.” He grabbed Yanjun’s arm and pulled him away and started dragging him to the ride.

“Rich coming from you, sweetheart.” Yanjun sighed happily, looking at Zhengting’s arm in his instead of where he was going.

“Which ride again?” Xukun asked distractedly, watching Zhengting and Yanjun.

“The coolest one in all the park.” Nongnong said awestruck.

Xukun turned to look at ‘the coolest ride in all the park’ and holy mother… father, son, and holy spirit.

They’d have to drag him half-dead to get on _that_.

“Yeah um no… you go ahead” Xukun said, encouraging them on. Zhengting turned back to look at him in concern.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just, I’m not good with heights.” Xukun smiled self-deprecating.

“Oh.” Zhengting said, grimacing in sympathy.

“I’ll take care of the bags and other stuff.” He offered awkwardly.

Zhengting stared at him intently before nodding. “Okay, then.”

He went to talk to the others and seemed to be explaining his situation. Xukun felt bad for ruining their fun even if he couldn’t control his phobias.

He looked down at the plushies in his hands and sighed.

“So…” A sweet voice said. “What do we do in the meantime?”

And there he was, in all his sparkling glory, Zhu Zhengting looking as beautiful as always, smiling at Xukun softly.

“Huh?”

“While the rest go on the ride,” Zhengting smiled patiently. “What should with do?”

Xukun jolted in surprise, looking quickly at the direction the rest had gone in, finding them in line for the ride. Yanjun was looking at them with an unreadable expression before turning back to the line, talking to Zhangjing.

“You’re not going?”

“Nope.” Zhengting popped.

“You don’t have to stay behind because of me.” Xukun frowned.

“I don’t mind.” Zhengting shrugged with a smile. “We can do something just the two of us?”

A bright smile broke out across Xukun’s face before he tried to contain himself, standing straight coolly. “I’d like that.”

Zhengting snorted. Xukun was such a cute dork.

“Where to, Charming?” Zhengting singsonged cutely.

“Ice-cream?”

“I like the sound of that!” Zhengting clapped happily.

They waved at the rest of the guys once they were finally getting on the ride. Yanjun was pouting and when he realized that Zhengting was looking at him he raised his arm in his direction, yelling Zhengting’s name dramatically with furrowed brows.

Zhengting laughed and waved again, before turning to Xukun, who had a conflicted look. “So?”

Xukun smiled.

“Right, let’s go.”

They had barely made it into the line when their awkward silence finally broke. Somehow, being alone made it much more difficult for words to come out.

“So, what flavor are you getting?” Xukun asked.

The silence was broken but the awkwardness prevailed.

It’s not that they were always like this, but it was very obvious now to Zhengting why Xukun was here and the unsaid words made it very difficult to concentrate. Zhengting found it cute, Xukun was still dying of shame.

“I was thinking of some Tropical Sunset.” Came a voice from behind them.

“Holy f–“ Xukun cut himself off while Zhengting jumped, arm coming up to clutch at Xukun’s arm in fear.

“Yanjun!” Zhengting berated, slapping the older boy’s arm while he cackled away.

“I’m sorry, but you guys should really be more aware of your surroundings.” He snorted. “I’m a little hurt, fairy, you said you’d get ice-cream, with _me_.”

He pouted playfully.

“Who says we’re not coming back here the moment the ride ends?” Zhengting defended himself, rubbing his arm guiltily. “Speaking of that, why did you get off?”

“I have a weak heart.” Yanjun stated seriously. Zhengting frowned in disbelief.

“Really?”

“You did that to me.” Yanjun accused him.

“Me?!”

“You leave my heart weak.” Yanjun smirked greasily.

Xukun groaned at the corniness but couldn’t help but laugh at it too.

“Where do you come up with those?” He asked Yanjun with an impressed grin.

“It all comes from up here.” Yanjun smiled proudly, pointing to his head.

Zhengting covered his face in shame.

“Just decide on what ice-cream you’re getting.” He grumbled at Yanjun.

“Already said. Tropical Sunset, they say that the soft serve here is to die for.” Yanjun pointed at the menu.

“I’m thinking about getting one of those famous milkshakes.” Xukun smiled.

“The ones with like a thousand toppings?” Yanjun asked excitedly.

“Yeah, I’ve always been curious.” Xukun told him.

“Cool.” Yanjun gave him two thumbs up. Then he turned to Zhengting. “What about you, darling?

“Zhengting was still reading the menu, the small menu, that flickered way to quickly for him to read everything. He hummed in confusion, missing the question.

“Milkshake or soft serve?” Yanjun asked solemnly as if it were a big decision. And Zhengting felt it was with the way they were staring at him, so he went for the only answer he could think of— and the only one he had already read completely.

“A sundae!” He exclaimed panickily and turned to the worker since they had already arrived at the front of the line. “Strawberry Serendipity, please.”

Yanjun laughed in disbelief, Xukun smiled fondly.

Of fucking course… it _was_ Zhengting after all.  Even discussing ice-cream was an ordeal to him.

 

  

 

“This was fun!” Zhengting beamed at everybody, the sun was setting and after an entire day of running around the park and doing everything they could in the time they had, was honestly exhausting.

“It was!” Nongnong beamed back. “We should definitely do it again sometime.”

“I actually agree,” Zhangjing nodded, “Never thought that all of us would get along so well.”

“That’s because you never gave us a chance, Zhangjing.” Chengcheng teased, getting close to the elder’s face.

“And I’ll never give one again if you don’t get out of my face.” Zhangjing pushed him away with a small grin.

“I’m glad everyone enjoyed themselves.” Yanjun smiled contently.

“Yeah…” Xukun smiled weakly.

“Let’s go get another snack before we leave!” Chengcheng shouted excitedly.

“Nu-uh! You already ate enough!” Zhengting yelled at him.

“In an amusement park, it is never enough!” Both Zhangjing and Chengcheng yelled at the same time.

“Creepy.” Justin murmured.

“You’re the same.” Xiao Gui rolled his eyes.

“Are not.” Justin huffed.

“Should we go control them?” Ziyi asked seriously.

“Nah.”

“Yes!” Zhengting said loudly. “Get back here!”

“You go,” Justin whined, “I’m already tired.”

“I don’t want to think about how we still have to go to work tomorrow.” Xiao Gui cried out sadly.

It was a funny sight, Zhengting after the foodies of the group, Ziyi, taking his policeman role very seriously, right behind him, with Nongnong smiling happily at them in the background.

Xiao Gui and Justin just sat down where they were standing and waited for everything to settle again, they started sharing more in-depth about the things they bought.

“What’s up with you, pretty boy?” Yanjun crept closer to Xukun.

“I feel really bad about today…” Xukun admitted.

“I thought you had a good time?” Yanjun asked concerned.

“I did, don’t get me wrong,” Xukun explained quickly. “But I interrupted your date.”

Yanjun smiled in understanding.

“It wasn’t a date,” He told the younger. “Not really anyway.”

“But it was something.” Xukun added. “And I got in the way.”

Yanjun stayed quiet, not knowing what to say without it sounding as if he were lying.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Kun.” Yanjun said crestfallen. “At least we had fun all together.”

Xukun stared at him with his big sad eyes and Yanjun didn’t have it in him to be more passive aggressive to the kid. The worst thing about having to compete against Xukun was that he understood why he did the things he did — Didn’t have to make Yanjun like him but he could never dislike Kunkun, sadly.

“All that money,” Zhengting gasped tiredly after he came back, “Wasted.”

“That’s what money is for.” Chengcheng said snootily, munching on a huge — expensive— donut. “To waste.”

“Amen.” Zhangjing raised his hands up in hallelujah.

“Yeah, but why do you have to spend _my_ money on your eating habits!” Zhengting whined, stomping his foot cutely.

“You’re kind of a pushover when it’s about treating others.” Zhangjing shrugged, huge donut in his hands too.

“You’re too soft.” Ziyi said gently.

Zhengting pouted.

“I got you guys some too.” Zhengting sighed loudly. Handing Yanjun, Xukun, and Nongnong some donuts, thankfully these ones were normal sized. Xiao Gui and Justin got to share a giant one, to which they cheered loudly.

“Thanks!” Nongnong chirped happily, Zhengting smiled fondly at him and ruffled his hair.

“You’re welcome, sunshine.” Zhengting cooed.

The two princes smiled lovingly at Zhengting.

“Disgusting.” Justin mumbled under his breath.

“Amen.” Xiao Gui whispered back, imitating Zhangjing’s raised hands gesture silently.

 

  

 

“Okay, so how are we going home?” Ziyi asked said once everybody walked out of the park’s entrance.

“Well, I brought Linong and Yanjun in my car,” Zhangjing said. “Anybody who goes my way is free to come along.”

“You going uptown?” Xiao Gui asked curiously.

“Yep.” Zhangjing nodded.

Xiao Gui brightened up. “Great! I live around there.”

“So do I.” Ziyi smiled.

“I’ve spent too much money as it is.” Xiao Gui moaned sadly.

Zhengting hmphed. “I told you so.”

“So, Nong, Yanjun, Ziyi and Xiao Gui?” Zhangjing ignored him and asked the rest.

“What about you guys?” Yanjun asked Zhengting worriedly.

“My sister dropped us off earlier.” Chengcheng answered thoughtfully. “But we’re taking the bus back.”

“We live on the other side from you guy, too.” Zhengting smiled regretfully. Yanjun groaned silently, why couldn’t Zhengting and him ever go in the same direction.

“You wouldn’t be able to come with us either way.” Zhangjing added. “My car ain’t that big.”

“Are you calling me fat!” Chengcheng gasped, covering his stomach.

“I’m calling my car small and myself poor!” Zhangjing yelled dramatically.

“Oh, cool.” Chengcheng snickered.

“Anyway,” Justin said with an eye roll. “We’re fine about it, don’t worry about that.”

Xiao Gui coughed pointedly and elbowed Xukun, giving him a meaningful look.

“You can come with me, if you want,” Xukun mumbled shyly. Yanjun turned to look at him with an unreadable look. Xukun never knew how to read Yanjun’s serious expressions. “My brother is coming to pick me up…” He trailed off, turning away from Yanjun’s stare to look at Zhengting’s gentle smile.

“If you don’t mind.” Zhengting asked softly.

“It’ll be no trouble at all.” Xukun smiled.

“Thank god,” Chengcheng sighed in relief. “I hate taking the bus at this hour.”

“I don’t understand why it’s always so full.” Justin agreed.

“Then it’s settled.” Zhangjing clapped happily. “We’re going to go ahead before it gets too dark.”

“See you guys tomorrow!” Nongnong grinned.

Yanjun looked troubled, looking at Zhangjing and the rest moving towards the parking lot and back at Zhengting standing close to Xukun.

“Don’t look so worried, Yanjun.” Zhengting laughed. “We really don’t mind going with Xukun’s brother.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Yanjun sighed frustrated. Xukun stepped back, moving to talk to Justin, giving them space. And Yanjun was suddenly very grateful that Xukun was such a nice guy. At least he had that peace of mind.

“I wanted you to really enjoy today,” Yanjun whispered to Zhengting, looking into his eyes, trying to make him understand everything inside Yanjun’s mind.

“I did.” Zhengting smiled. But it was Zhengting, and if liking him taught Yanjun anything, it was that Zhengting was oblivious to many things, especially those not said directly to his face. “I’m so glad you gave us those tickets, I would have never thought a day all together would have made me smile as much as it did.”

“I happy that I could give you that, fairy.” Yanjun smiled back. “You’ve been so down for weeks now, I think you’re finally ready to be yourself again. Your bright, happy self.”

Zhengting looked at Yanjun with the saddest eyes for a moment, it was but a flicker. Something that made Yanjun realize that maybe there were deeper things inside Zhengting’s mind that he didn’t understand either. Maybe Zhengting wasn’t the only oblivious one.

“I wanted to talk to you, Yanjun.” Zhengting started to say. “Really talk to you.”

“Then talk.” Yanjun encouraged him.

“Now’s not the time.” Zhengting shook his head. “I don’t want it to be rushed, and the other guys are waiting for you already.”

“They can wait some more.”

“Yanjun,” Zhengting said calmly. “We’ll talk tomorrow, let’s end today as carefree as it began.”

Yanjun swallowed before nodding. “As you wish, darling.”

Zhengting smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah… goodnight, Zhengting.” Yanjun smiled back. Something in him cracked a little, but his smile never faltered in front of Zhengting. “See ya guys!” He called out to the other three.

“Goodnight, Yanjun.” Xukun smiled.

“See you later!” The twin demons said with grand handwaves.

Yanjun walked towards the parking lot, ignoring the feeling that told him to stay, to not leave Zhengting alone with Xukun —even if the other two boys were there with them too— he just kept walking, finding the other four standing outside Zhangjing’s car just chilling.

“Ready, Romeo?” Zhangjing called out to him.

Yanjun rolled his eyes playfully.

“Shotgun.” He called out.

A few cries of disapproval rang out, mostly from Xiao Gui (only from Xiao Gui).

“That’s not fair, we even waited for you!” He cried out.

“Did you call shotgun?” Yanjun asked him.

“No…”

“Then you have no rights to whine about it.” Yanjun smirked before sliding into the front seat. Xiao Gui huffed before climbing into the back.

“Babies, all of you.” Zhangjing rolled his eyes fondly.

Zhangjing, being the responsible adult of the crew, made sure that every single one of his charges arrived home safely, practically walking them up to their doors but really just waiting outside until they got in.

“Thanks, Zhangjing.” Sweet, sweet Nongnong said before getting out of the car. He knocked on Yanjun’s window quickly, “And thanks for inviting me along too, Yanjun.” He said once Yanjun rolled down the window.

Yanjun laughed and patted Nongnong’s fluffy cheek, “Anytime, Nong, you’ll always be first on my list.”

They watched him run into his house with fond smiles. Nongnong was the cutest.

Then the car stopped running.

Yanjun turned to look at Zhangjing, already knowing what was coming.

“Spill.” Zhangjing said monotonously.

And Yanjun did just that.

“I’m so pissed off–“ Yanjun laughed bitterly. Zhangjing observed him worriedly. “This was supposed to be _my_ day. _I_ was supposed to spend it with Zhengting. But it became theirs…”

“Yanjun…” Zhangjing frowned. "You're mistake was making this a group outing instead of the date Fujing told you to do."

"I know, Zhangjing, don't you think I do?" Yanjun said frustrated. "But I knew that Zhengting was not going to accept that. I think I've always known that. The worst thing about this whole thing is that I can’t even be angry at Kun, he saw a chance and he took it.” Yanjun smiled ruefully. “But now it feels like I lost Zhengting.”

“I don’t think he was ever yours to begin with.” Zhangjing winced at how harsh the words sounded. “I mean–“

“I know,” Yanjun admitted sadly. “But I liked to think I had a chance.”

“I’m so sorry, man, I know you liked him a lot.” Zhangjing patted his back softly.

“I still do.” Yanjun corrected him. “Like him, I mean. I still like him a lot. Just because I’ll probably not end up with him doesn’t mean I’ll stop liking him anytime soon. It took a while for me to like him, it’ll take just as long to stop liking him. I don’t think I’ll ever not like him a little.”

Zhangjing stared at him, amazed. “Did he really affect you so much?”

“He did…”

“You haven’t even known him for two months.” Zhangjing scoffed in disbelief.

“Sometimes that’s all you need.” Yanjun whispered, “You’ll understand when you find someone that makes you feel the way he makes me feel.”

Zhangjing stared at Yanjun with an unreadable look before sighing softly.

“Let’s go home, Yanjun… I’ll treat you something, for your broken heart.” He smiled softly, patting Yanjun’s hand.

“Thanks, I guess.” Yanjun half-smiled and looked out the window not noticing the way Zhangjing stared at him for a few extra seconds before he started the car again.

 

  

 

“So…” Justin coughed, breaking Zhengting out of his thoughts as he looked at Yanjun’s retreating figure. “Kun’s brother is gonna take a while before he comes picks us up, so me and Chengcheng are gonna go have a photoshoot.” He explained, not aware of how ridiculous he sounded.

“You’re going to have a what now?” Zhengting scoffed amusedly.

“A photoshoot.” Chengcheng explained slowly. “By the huge Universal globe up front— make our visit even more complete.”

Zhengting laughed. “Go for it, I guess, but don’t take too long.”

“Gotcha!” Justin grinned before pulling Chengcheng along with him towards their destination.

“My brother said he’d be here ten to fifteen minutes tops.” Xukun spoke up. “Sorry, I didn’t know he’d take that long.”

“That’s fine, Xukun.” Zhengting said waving his worries away. “That’s nothing compared to how long waiting for the bus can take at times.”

“Why not take a taxi instead of the bus?” Xukun asked curiously.

“Do you know how much money we wasted here today?” Zhengting asked solemnly. “Do you not know how much a taxi ride costs to take all three of us to our homes?”

Xukun chuckled. “I get it now.”

“So Wenjun really is the only one who can drive from your group.” He asked Zhengting.

“I tried once.” Zhengting offered. “Never again.”

Xukun laughed at him.

“I can respect that.” Xukun nodded. “Same for me.”

“One of the reasons your brother picks you up?” Zhengting teased lightly.

Xukun smiled, “That and that my mom wants me and my brother to spend quality time together, so he has become my personal chauffeur all summer.”

“Sounds fun.” Zhengting smiled.

“It’s not bad.” Xukun shrugged.

They went quiet, not knowing how to bring up the subjects they were both thinking about. And before Zhengting got the guts to do it, Xukun spoke up.

Like he always did. A true Leo, he was, always taking matters into his own hands.

“Why?” Xukun asked. “I just want to know why hide from me.”

Zhengting sighed, feeling drained and guilty and goddamn tired. And it had nothing to do with all the walking they had done all day. So he finally gave in, if Xukun was going to be direct and cut to the chase than so would Zhengting.

“It wasn’t like I was hiding from you, not at the start, anyway.” Zhengting grimaced at his stupidity. “I mean,” He sighed.

Xukun just waited patiently, looking at him with the kindest eyes.

“It was coincidence, at the start,” Zhengting explained. “It wasn’t me purposefully not wanting to show you my face.”

“And then?”

“Then I let my own thoughts screw me over.” Zhengting sighed.

“The thing about being Duffy?” Xukun asked in concern.

“That and the whole thing about not being a prince that I had told you,” Zhengting nodded. “And then there was you.”

Xukun’s eyes widened in surprise. “Me? What did I do?”

“You were so perfect!” Zhengting whined out. “The perfect prince with all those looks and all those manners–“

Xukun laughed at that in disbelief.

“–and I was so embarrassed because I was a mess whenever we met even inside the bear suit, I couldn’t face you without my self-esteem issues messing with me even more.”

“What do you mean?” Xukun asked worriedly with furrowed brows.

“The thing about the Duffy-suit situation,” Zhengting said in a small voice. “Is that one of the reasons I didn’t want to talk to you outside the suit was because I felt like I could never talk to you face to face— that you were too good to be true and I would just disappoint you.”

“Oh, Zhengting.” Xukun said sadly, comprehension coloring his features.

“I know it was dumb,” Zhengting said quickly. “Everything I did was dumb, all of my friends made sure of letting me know that— but I couldn’t help it.”

“No,” Xukun said quietly. “It’s not dumb, those were your feelings and thoughts and there’s no reason to brush them aside just like that. It can’t be expected of you to just fix things like that because others tell you you should.”

 Zhengting stared at him sadly. “See! Perfect!”

Xukun snorted.

“I’m not!” He laughed. “Stop ruining my serious moment!”

Zhengting smiled a bit.

“Thanks, Xukun,” He said. “But they were dumb, at least when it came to you, because there were no reasons for me to try to make you avoid seeing me, none at all, you never gave me a reason to think you’d dislike me without the Duffy suit, but I just kept the thing going until it ended with me… well, you know how _that_ ended.”

“You don’t feel that way about me anymore?” Xukun asked cautiously. “I feel that we can still talk like we used to, in a sense, now I’m just more distracted and you’re a bit shyer but overall the biggest rock in our way was this talk.”

Zhengting smiled happily at that.

“I don’t. We don’t talk the way I thought we would,” Zhengting laughed. “And that’s good! I like talking to you and I’m glad you’re still the same understanding guy I’ve always known you to be.”

Xukun smiled fondly.

“I don’t think I’ll ever completely understand why your mind went in that direction, to be honest.” Xukun chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’re so pretty, I don’t get why you’d think I wouldn’t like you–”

Zhengting looked down shyly. Smooth Prince is smooth.

“–but I think I get you, I feel bad that you had to go through a period where you thought so bad of yourself,” Xukun frowned. “But I’m glad that’s over and that we finally got to talk about it… it’s over right?” He added worriedly.

“As over as it can be!” Zhengting piped up. _Not completely but getting there,_ he didn’t say that but Xukun seemed to understand.

He nudged Zhengting’s chin gently. “It’s okay, Zhengzheng, I’m not mad at you at all— as long as you never go to the extremes _ever_ again.” He warned.

“I won’t.” Zhengting vowed, hand over chest.

“I can’t believe you thought I was perfect…” Xukun snorted then. “I’m the farthest from perfect you could be.”

“No you’re not!” Zhengting said earnestly.

“You don’t get it, Zhengting.” Xukun laughed, embarrassed. “A lot of the things I did and said were me just trying to make you think I was cool.”

“It… it was?” Zhengting smiled shyly.

“Yeah…” Xukun admitted shyly.

“If it makes you feel any better, it did make you look cool.” Zhengting tilted his head to the side, looking up at him through his eyelashes. “It made you look perfect.”

“Mission accomplished then.” Xukun grinned.

They stayed there beaming at each other like idiots for a good few seconds before they turned away suddenly shy.

“I’m glad this talk’s finally over.” Zhengting sighed happily after that little bump.

“Now on to the next one.” Xukun nodded tersely, mood going serious very quickly.

“Now on to the next one!” Zhengting repeated dumbly. “Wait, what next one?”

Xukun gave him a look and Zhengting knew the topic of ‘the next one’ wasn’t one he really wanted to talk about.

“About you and me,” Xukun informed him quietly. “And Yanjun.”

Zhengting braced himself. He had to do this, he had already convinced himself when he came here that he was going to do it. Today hadn’t ended up the way he expected it to, but maybe that had happened because he was supposed to talk to Xukun first after all, not Yanjun.

“I… I don’t know.” Zhengting said honestly. Because he didn’t, he didn’t understand when that happened, all summer that was the last thing on his mind. A love triangle wasn’t even a possibility in Zhengting’s mind until it actually happened.

Xukun looked lost. “Well, I don’t know either.”

“This entire thing got so out of hand,” Zhengting sighed. “It got worse after the whole twitter debacle.”

“It did.” Xukun nodded. “It also got more public after that.”

“I just want you to know that I was never playing with you guys,” Zhengting said softly, he couldn’t meet Xukun’s eyes, so he kept them on the ground. “I would never–“

“I know you wouldn’t, Zhengting.” Xukun said calmly. “So does Yanjun, that never crossed our minds.”

“You guys talk about this?” Zhengting said uneasily.

“We talk about a lot of things.” Xukun half-smiled. “But mostly we wonder a lot about what you’re thinking.”

“Sometimes, even I don’t know what I’m thinking.” Zhengting mumbled.

“Do you think…” Xukun started to say before trailing off nervously. Zhengting’s eyes flickered quickly up to look at him before looking down again. Why did he look so scared? It was making Zhengting scared. “I just want to know who you actually like.”

Zhengting froze, well damn that was straightforward.

“I…” Zhengting stuttered.

“Just so I know if I should keep trying or step aside.” Xukun explained softly

Zhengting knew, he really did, but he has never confessed his feelings to anybody before, how the hell do you do that.

“I’ve never done this before! I’m not good at talking about this stuff!” Zhengting finally cried out closing his eyes tightly. “Especially to your face!”

Xukun sighed and Zhengting felt like the worst person in the world all over again. He was becoming well acquaintance with the sidewalk at Universal.

There was a brief moment of silence and then some ruffling before something was thrown over his head and his vision went dark.

“Huh?” Zhengting exclaimed, hands going up to take whatever was over his head off before felt Xukun’s hands stop him.

“You said you could talk to me better when you couldn’t see my face right?” Xukun said patiently, holding Zhengting’s hands in his. “Then talk.”

Xukun’s overshirt smelled like him and it was so soft, Zhengting smiled.

“I like _you_.” Zhengting confessed softly. This was probably the most embarrassed he has ever been in front of Xukun.

“What?” He could hear the smile in Xukun’s voice and he wanted to hit him, but his hands were still in Xukun’s grip. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you?”

“I said! I _like_ _you_!” Zhengting yelled, voice tight with embarrassment. “I like everything about you!— I want you to be my boyfriend!”

He couldn’t watch the other boy’s reaction but he sure as hell could feel his own, his face felt hot under the fabric and he tried to pull his hands away when Xukun didn’t answer.

Instead, Xukun pulled him closer and Zhengting fell right into his embrace. A hand patted his covered head and the butterflies in his belly fluttered like they always did whenever Xukun was near.

Zhengting stayed quiet as Xukun pulled back the shirt over his head—his smile was warm and bright and very fond.

And so _happy_.

“I like you, too.” Xukun beamed, eyes twinkling with happiness as they met Zhengting’s for what felt like the first time ever. “I like everything about you too and I definitely want to be your boyfriend.”

Zhengting smiled back just as warmly.

“I already knew that.” Zhengting sighed happily.

Xukun laughed, “Of course you did.”

Before sighing and leaning towards Zhengting’s face, and for one second Zhengting thought Xukun was going to kiss him, but he just leaned his forehead against Zhengting’s and smiled relieved.

“Fuck, I’m so glad.” Xukun chuckled self-deprecating. “I’m so happy it was me, I was so worried it wasn’t me.”

Zhengting gave a second to think about Yanjun, thought about what this meant to that boy, but he watched the way Xukun’s eyelashes fluttered as he closed his eyes happily and couldn’t not focus on the boy in front of him.

“Of course it’s you.” Zhengting whispered, arms going around the other boy’s neck to hug him. “It’s always been you.”

And with that said, Xukun hugged Zhengting tight to his chest again. Xukun gave nice hugs, really nice hugs, Zhengting wouldn’t mind getting more of those hugs from now on.

“Yo, Xukun, your brother’s here!” Justin yelled from the other end of the entrance, the closest side to the parking lot. Interrupting their moment in usual Justin-style.

“Fan Chengcheng! Stop taking pictures!” Zhengting yelled mortified once he pulled away and caught sight of the younger boy’s nonstop flashes in their direction.

Zhengting covered his face with Xukun’s shirt again, whining pitifully, “Just great, more pictures for his twitter thread.”

Xukun laughed delightedly, Zhengting had never heard Xukun sound so carefree as he did in that moment.

“I don’t mind.” He smiled at Zhengting, pulling the shirt down again to look at Zhengting sweetly. “I don’t mind at all.”

 

  

 

“Yixing is your brother!?” Zhengting asked shocked, looking at their boss, waiting in the expensive-ass car he saw Xukun get in the other day.

“Half-brother, we have different dads.” Xukun explained as they walked towards the car.

Xukun was holding his _hand_ , Zhengting was floating again. He didn’t understand why he took so long to get them here.

“That explains a lot actually.” Justin said thoughtfully.

Both Justin and Chengcheng did not act any different despite probably seeing the whole confession scene, and, apart from a few raised eyebrows, didn’t even mention the handholding.

Zhengting was proud of their discretion.

“I call shotgun!” Chengcheng yelled quickly.

“How dare you!?” Justin gasped betrayed.

“Like hell am I spending a car ride next to those two.” Chengcheng scrunched up his nose.

“Ugh, I hate you.” Justin pouted.

Zhengting sighed— why did they always have to prove him wrong. Those two wouldn’t know what discretion was even if it hit them in the face in the form of Zhengting’s fists. They were lucky Xukun was holding one of them, otherwise, they would be dead by now.

As it was, Xukun just laughed at their words—looking mighty pleased at them even, much to Zhengting’s amusement.

“So, where to first?” Yixing smiled once everybody got into the car. He gave Zhengting a knowing wink through the rear mirror and Zhengting felt his face go red.

“So much for hiding our Universal adventure from the boss.” Justin whispered at Zhengting as Chengcheng gave Yixing Justin’s address.

Zhengting muffled a whine, he had forgotten about that. He looked at Xukun pointedly.

Xukun gave him an innocent look. “What? Yixing doesn’t care.”

“As long as Zhangjing doesn’t find out, then we’re good.” Yixing beamed at them, dimple as deep as the ocean.

All four boys decided to keep quiet of Zhangjing’s earlier whereabouts, just because.

Zhengting was honestly still very embarrassed, he didn’t know how to look at Xukun after what just happened. Movies never told you the aftermath of confessions, there is always a flashforward where everything is cool and comfortable.

He was totally not expecting to still spend twenty minutes with Xukun in a closed space after the hella embarrassing yelling he did earlier.

Xukun looked over the moon though, and Zhengting still felt like that so he tried to push down his shyness.

He was still holding Xukun’s overshirt and Zhengting felt dumb at how nerdy he was, but he wanted to keep that shirt forever— at this point, it was almost as precious as Duffy’s head.

The ride to Justin’s ended up being not as awkward as Zhengting thought it’d be. Justin and Chengcheng talked to Yixing as if he were an old friend and not their boss, Yixing was having the time of his life and Xukun kept telling him to stop laughing or they’d crash– and they had precious cargo (Zhengting was the precious cargo! He was precious and the cargo! The cargo was him!).

Zhengting felt giddy and kept hitting Justin lowkey in excitement. Justin just laughed and rolled his eyes but even he looked giddy.

When they pulled into Justin’s street, Justin grabbed Zhengting’s arm tightly.

“By the way, you’re staying with me tonight.” He informed the older boy.

“I am?” Zhengting asked confused.

“You’re telling me _everything_.” Justin whispered quietly so only they could hear.

“Damn.” Zhengting whispered back.

“These two will stay here too, Yixing.” Justin told their boss. “No use making you go around dropping them off when this is much more convenient.”

“I don’t mind dropping them off.” Yixing grinned. “But I totally get it.”

He winked at Justin and Justin winked back, Zhengting looked at Xukun with raised eyebrows but Xukun just shrugged.

“Don’t worry, Prince Charming, we’ll walk with him to the door.” Justin smirked at Xukun when it looked like he would also get out of the car with them.

“O-okay…” Xukun smiled embarrassedly.

Zhengting glared at Justin before turning to look at Xukun sweetly.

“Good night, Kun.” Zhengting smiled before kissing him quickly on the cheek and jumping out the car.

“Good night, Kun~” Justin and Chengcheng cried out teasingly from outside, blowing him kisses.

Xukun laughed and waved. He laughed even more when he saw Zhengting turn to hit the other two.

“So what? Are you going to stay in the back? What am I your uber?” Yixing broke him out of his reverie.

“Just, just drive.” Xukun said dreamily, waving him off. He looked out the window at Zhengting until he couldn’t see them anymore.

“Whatever you say lover boy… took you long enough to finally ask him out.” Yixing teased lightly.

“Shut up, Yixing.” Xukun said annoyed.

“I’m totally telling mom.” Yixing singsonged.

“Don’t you dare!” Xukun sat straight in his seat.

“She’ll cry–“

“Yixiiing.”

“–her little boy is _grown_.”

“If you do, I’m telling about your little Korean heist!” Xukun threatened through squinted eyes.

“It was not a heist!”

“Sure it wasn’t, you stole puppies from a pound.” Xukun rolled his eyes.

“I _saved_ puppies from a pound.” Yixing corrected, looking back at Xukun through the rearview mirror.

“Illegally.” Xukun stated.

“Now they all have better homes.” Yixing said proudly.

“With all your friends.” Xukun raised an eyebrow.

“It was for a good cause.”

“What _ever_.” Xukun crossed his arms and sulked in the backseat. Mom was going to destroy him.

“Shut up and kiss your Zhengting phone background!” Yixing screeched in laughter while Xukun whined.

But he couldn’t help but smile out the window, feeling ten times lighter than when he first woke up this morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallelujah! I cannot believe it took this long! I swear to god I feel bad for Yanjun and this felt more like a Zhengjun chapter but it was kind of a goodbye to Yanjun because now we will see less of him in the last two chapters :(
> 
> The entire Universal thing came out of nowhere and that's why this chapter got long as hell, all rights go to the actual npc who went there and gave me inspiration from where to draw from lol
> 
> Also, the confession was so cringy that when I was editing I had to skim quickly over that part but that was the idea! Because these two are going to be the cringiest couple ever and Justin's reaction will always be me


End file.
